Teacher Bert's words of wisdom

Teaching has come to a close for this guy.(I am unimpressed)
We finish school next Friday but the tests have been given and kids now have the summer to forget everything I taught them. Before they left, we all took a group picture together so I had 27 printed out, gave each of them one and my Thai teacher a copy. Every student also made a memory box, little things you can put inside to remember when you are older like pictures, movie stubs, pictures or whatever. I had one when I was little and really enjoyed it. So I told them to put these things in their memory box and I gave them this small letter to them to help them later in life. I'm unsure how much this will help.

Teacher Bert's words of wisdom

1-Read anything in English. Read a library book. Read articles on the internet. Just READ!

2-When you are older, don't smoke. Nothing good will happen, I promise.

3-Travel. Go somewhere new. Eat different food, meet new friends, live in a new country. Learn about new places, the world is a big place. You will have fun, I promise.

4-Work hard. Don't be lazy. Do your homework, don't cheat and try your best.

5-Go outside and play. Don't spend all of your time playing video games or watching TV.

6-Be nice to your family. Play with your brother and sister. Respect your mom and dad. Help your family when you can, even if you don't want to.

7-Wear a helmet when you grow up and start driving. Accidents happen.

8-Save your money. Spending money is fun but try and save half for later. Trust me, saving and having a budget can be fun.

9-Go to sleep early. You need sleep to grow, get big and help you learn. Sleep is good.

10-Have fun. Whatever you do, try and have fun and do what makes you happy. Life is short, enjoy it.

Teacher Bert had a lot of fun with you guys this year. You are all very clever and funny. I will remember you guys forever. If you want to ask me any questions or send me pictures when you get older, my e-mail is bertbrandon@gmail.com. If you have any questions or need help with English I will try and help you. Good luck in P4, have a very safe and fun summer.

Teacher Bert.

"The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity." Robert Brault

Here is a video that has nothing to do with teaching and is also somewhat depressing about inequality in America.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/02/wealth-inequality/

Is Nakhon dangerous?

If you tell a Thai person that you live in Nakhon while you are travelling around, you will get one of two response. The most likely is that they are from Nakhon themselves or have friends and family that live here. Nakhon is also the name of the province, like a city in Ontario being called Ontario. The second reaction you will get is that is less common but still prevalent is that Nakhon is a gangster city that is very dangerous. True, I am pretty gangster/hardcore but I didn't think word would travel this fast.

Apparently Nakhon USE to be way more dangerous, had and still has a mafia presence that goes largely unnoticed, especially in the foreign community. The most common story I heard about this was that a foreign teacher gave the finger to a random car, may or may not have had a vulgar conversation with the car and drove off. Apparently, they found out who this guy was, went around bars asking if this guy was around and telling people to warn him that he should leave town. He did. I don't know how much of this story is true but I know some of it happened for sure. 


One of the schools had a drug bust, a few months ago a student brought a gun into school, crossed the street into the local college, found a guy that was seeing his ex-girlfriend and shot him. Sometimes people on bikes will try and steal your bag or purse. And most recently, and stories vary, a girl said she got raped late one night after getting too drunk, wandering alone all alone and not remembering what happened to her. It is an awful thing and is terrible that we live in a world where this isn't uncommon. 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/336283/foreigner-raped-after-night-out

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/336869/man-rapes-scottish-student-arrested

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/337535/cops-cast-doubt-on-rape-claim

I've never felt unsafe here. That might be because I'm a guy, people are nothing but nice, want to say hello and let you drink from their drink when I go out. But more girls are having encounters with Thai guys that aren't positive and is making people take more precautions while out at night and even during the day. Also, all of the news is in Thai so even if this were a huge problem, we wouldn't be hearing that much about it and some cases are probably never even talked about. Some teachers that were suppose to work at my school have backed out because of these incidents. I understand that hearing these stories is scary and moving to a new country is hard enough without worrying about your safety. But not going somewhere because you hear of one horror story would be the same thing as something bad happening where you live and immediately leaving your city or country. Bad things happen everywhere, this isn't a Nakhon, Thailand thing. This is unfortunately a world problem that nobody can escape. These are wake up calls that no matter where you are, you need to show caution, be smart and stay with the group. Is Nakhon dangerous? Maybe. Is going outside your door right now dangerous? Maybe. Is being scared of everything and everyone the answer? No. 


"Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living." Oscar Wilde. 

Getting a working holiday visa

If you are Canadian, American, British (sigh), have a European passport or come from other well perceived countries, getting visas and a working holiday visa is easier than say if you were born in Iran or China. I don't make up the rules, but I probably should and be in control of more of the world but that is a different post altogether. Getting a working holiday visa is essentially very easy. Answer maybe a 25 minute questionnaire asking you health questions, what industry you work in, criminal record questions, if you have enough money to leave their country, what scheme you are applying under and other easy questions. 

HOWEVER, to get my visa, it was more difficult than this. So I guess certain countries have specific criteria you need to meet to be allowed entry into their country. NZ for some reason is very concerned with tuberculosis. I'm not sure why but they probably have a good reason. All I know about TB is that it is some sort of chest/lung infection that is contagious. On their website they state that if you are from a list of countries, you are NOT a threat to have been infected. Canada is obviously on the list of low TB because...well..Canada is civilized and amazing. If you are from a country that is more prone to this disease or have spent 3 or more months traveling or living in one of these countries you need to get a chest X-ray that proves you are sufficiently healthy. Thailand is on this list. So go to your local hospital, get an X-ray and be on your way? OF COURSE NOT! You need to go to a certain "panel" doctor. So obviously there are no panel doctors near me so I had 15 days to get an appointment, get the X-ray to their embassy and await the results. Sort of long story short, flew to Bangkok, taxi to the  hospital, no TB and sent off my X-ray in the mail to their embassy. 10 days later had my working holiday visa completed.

If you want to travel but still need to work like me, like a commoner, working visas are proving to be a great option. Super easy to get, easier if you haven't been to one of these high TB countries (http://glossary.immigration.govt.nz/LowTBRiskCountry.htm)
and hopefully a great experience. This is what I have to say about that. Enjoy your day. 70 days until New Zealand.
http://travel.cnn.com/best-new-zealand-003221



“Not all those who wander are lost.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien

Seems like a good time to spend a year in

A little place called Pakistan.

I hear it is beautiful this time of year and super safe.

But seriously, next on tap is New Zealand (Pakistan does look beautiful though. Possible 2014 candidate).

Was planning on going home for the summer, seeing my friends and family, eating delicious street meet, working, trying to save money then going somewhere in the fall. Then one day I thought about going to New Zealand, finding a job in Queenstown and snowboarding as much as possible. It took about a day to change my mind. 

Was thinking about NZ before I came to Thailand and might as well keep the good times going while I'm away from home. My first thought was to only spend the winter there but the more I thought about it and read about it, I might as well stay for as long as the government will let me. People have great things to say about the place and should be a good way to spend a year. I looked into flights, they are under $500 from Singapore and getting to Singapore is pretty inexpensive. Will go towards the end of April, beginning of May. Once the winter is over I will head North and see what the world has in store. Not too worried about finding a career-type job while I'm there, just want to support myself, discover a new place and meet cool people.

I figured if I was going to go home and get a random job and try and save money, I'd rather do that in a completely new country and do something new. On my initial to-do list will be to get a job, find a place to live, and snowboard as much as I can. There are a crazy amount of activities going on all the time like kayaking, mountain biking, zorbing, wineries, touring Middle Earth, Maori culture, rugby games, sky diving, bungee jumping, glacier climbing, and other fun things. Trying to keep my expectations in check and maximize the rest of my time in Thailand. If you ever wanted to visit/work in NZ, now would be a good excuse to book a flight. I will continue to write mediocre things for you to pass the time that is hopefully non-injury-related. Again, thanks for staying in touch, if you have any NZ advice, send me a message.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the 

things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off 

the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade 

winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain 

Raise your expectations for this one!

Are your expectations high yet? K raise them a bit more. You are in for a treat. Here we go!

If you have been here before, you should know not to have high expectations of my writing or what you find here so the first mistake is on you.

I've thought about writing a post about this but unsure how to tackle it. It is something I believe strongly in but sort of hard to explain and you might disagree. To summarize my opinion is that I think having expectations isn't the best way to live our lives. So I pretty much tricked you. Second mistake. 

I think having expectations about a place or destination isn't good. I can see having expectations in people but also don't think this is the proper course to take.

Let's go through a scenario that I experienced. I was in New Haven, Connecticut for my cousin Shelly's wedding. Super cool, had kegs of beer, oven pizza-mobile that turned into a gelato machine. Looked something like this.

Success. After the wedding I explored the area close to the hotel where my family was staying. Go to a few places, have one beer and start to head home. As is the case when you end a night, I was hungry. Walked by a few pizza places, nothing caught my eye. I ask someone on the street where a good place to grab some food is. He points me in a direction and tells me to turn right. Turn right, got it. Walk down the street a bit, make a hard right and 30 seconds later I am standing outside a small, hobbit like establishment with a line of people outside the door. Ask someone standing outside what the deal was, told me that they sell incredible hamburgers inside and is worth the wait. I have nowhere to go, I wait. Wait maybe 30 minutes, maybe less. Once inside, it is a super tiny, with only a handful of tables, some sort of hamburger cooking device from possibly the 1930's. To say the place had character would be a tad of an understatement. On some of the tables had carvings imprinted in them from college students long gone and quite possibly dead. Their menu was very basic and could only order a few items. So grabbed 2 hamburgers and they were unbelievable. Well, I only ate one, a homeless guy hustled me out of my other one, then asked me for $10.

Essentially, my expectations for that meal were non-existent. I was happy to just to get food and turned out to be one of the birthplaces of the hamburger. This fact is apparently disputed and I don't really understand it. It is one of the first places to sell hamburgers in the world. And I ate there by accident and I remember it to this day. No expectations. Check it out if this interests you:

http://www.louislunch.com/history.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger

Have you ever noticed how New Year's usually isn't very fun and that it is is filled with drama and disappointment? It can be fun and isn't all bad but for the most part the celebration doesn't meet the expectation. Maybe that is because we start talking about New Year's in October or even earlier. I bet someone reading this right now already has New Year's plans.  Our expectations are sky high.

The downside to having no expectations is that people like to get excited, helps them get through the day and allows them to daydream. I'm not saying having a negative attitude is the key; it's good to have fun/new things to look forward to but for me I like to take it one day at at time. Tomorrow will get here soon enough. If today wasn't good, tomorrow will probably even it out. And if tomorrow isn't good, the next day will. Call it cautious optimism.

Do what you like, this is only my philosophy, feel free to tell me what you think. Enjoy your week everyone, should have a post within the next week about my plans for the rest of 2013. Oh and have fun watching the Super Bowl, eating great food and drinking water, good thing people don't have high expectations for the game.....

Here are two more articles about expectations if you want to read more:

http://zenhabits.net/light/

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/expectations/

"There is a difference between expectations and aspirations" Alex Kapranos.

Things you might like

Here is a list of things that tend to make my online life better which is in continuation with our love of the internet theme. (if you liked the internet post, read these two recently added articles from The Star)
http://www.thestar.com/living/health/article/1319795--is-the-internet-bad-for-us

http://www.thestar.com/living/health/article/1319795--is-the-internet-bad-for-us

If you only click on one of these links, make it this one. Something to get you excited about being alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l-gQLqv9f4o

then these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afLqsnSHOFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n58bFRauLL4

Where I get my manly intake of stuff:
http://www.esquire.com/
http://www.askmen.com/

News:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.time.com/time/

Music:
http://www.billboard.com/

http://www.ct40.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=532:top-40-chart-january-26-2013&Itemid=244

Tons of different things:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/home

Travel info:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
http://th.skyscanner.com/

If you don't listen to podcasts, you should. They are small radio like shows, ranging from 3 minutes to more than an hour. Tons of different areas to learn about like business, sports, news, entertainment. politics, learning a new language, etc. Just go to iTunes, click on podcasts and start downloading. I recommend these to get you going:
Podcasts:
NPR Planet Money
Freakonomics
NFL Football Today
Stuff You Should Know

iTunes Radio. On the left hand side, underneath the Podcast heading. Pick a genre, then pick a station. Most are commercial free. 

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're 

right.” 

― Henry Ford

Are you in love with the internet?

A few weeks ago I read an article in Newsweek about people being addicted to the internet. I found it very surprising and fascinating. Then I did a tad more research to support what I read and thought I would share what I found because I think everyone can relate in some way.

Just like anything, not overdoing indulging in any activity is bad. Food, reading, hair washes, chocolate milk use. I think the main thing is just being aware of all of your habits, how they affect you in your professional and personal life. It is kind of like writing down every item you buy to see where all of your money is going. Then at the end of the month you realize that you are spending $300 on back scratches. Once you know there is a problem, you can start to fix it, and maybe start using a wall or a tree to scratch your back...like a grizzly bear does. Taking online quizzes is sort of a fun way to get feedback which I found about internet addiction. If you think you love the internet a little too much take this quick test. (pssst-you will probably take the test because it means more time online...which you love......you addict you)

http://www.netaddiction.com/index.php?option=com_bfquiz&view=onepage&catid=46&Itemid=106


Common characteristics that come up are low self-esteem, poor motivation,and fear of rejection. Some people might enjoy the internet a bit more than most is if they are socially awkward and have trouble communicating. Kimber Young wrote in a paper I read that "the disappearance of facial expression, voice inflection, and eye contact makes electronic communication less threatening, thereby helping the depressive to overcome the initial awkwardness and intimidation in meeting and speaking with others". Also knows as online dating. 
Makes sense if you have trouble forming relationships in person, expressing yourself virtually with other people from around the world makes your life better, why not get as much joy out of that as you can. So of why online gaming, which is incredible, is so fun. 

The scariest thing from the Newsweek article about overuse of the internet noted that the internet  "may be making us not just dumber or lonelier but more depressed and anxious...our digitized minds can scan like those of drug addicts". DRUG ADDCITS!!?? That can't be good. Peter Whybrow argues that "the computer is like electronic cocaine" fueling cycles of mania followed by depressive stretches.

I find that kind of hard to believe but people do love their iPhone's and WiFi passwords. A Stanford study if iPhone habits found that one in 10 users feels "fully addicted" to his or her phone." I'm sure everyone can think of times where you are somewhere and everyone is on their phone or inappropriately checking their FB Timeline. 

I probably would be as well but my phone cost $20 and barely receives text messages. I enjoy the internet, mainly to message my friends, use Skype and watch football. I'm not a huge gamer like in Taiwan or Korea where people have literally died from gaming too much or a Korean family who let their real life baby starve while they played house in a virtual world:

 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-19-death-by-gaming-why-taiwans-cafe-culture-is-killing-gamers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game

Finally, you remember that KONY 2012 viral video that was about raising awareness about an evil African warlord? Apparently one of men involved in making the video become so obsessed with all of the media attention, feedback and other things that go along with instant fame and success and didn't exactly handle it well and there is a video of him, doing not sane things. "The same digital tools that supported his mission seemed to tear at his psyche, exposing him to non-stop kudos and criticisms, and ending his arm's-length relationship with new media..."

The best stat I found that is kind of remarkable is that "the average person, regardless of age, sends or receives about 400 texts a month, four times the 2007 number. The average teen processes an astounding 3,700 texts a month" I don't get 400 texts a month. I'm not that cool, there I said it. But hopefully cooler than this girl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jOlQqDPzQ
or this girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg11glsBW4Y

And the best quote I found about all of this which I find very true is "we may appear to be choosing to use this technology, but in fact we are being dragged to it by the potential of short term rewards. Every ping could be social, sexual, or professional opportunity, and we get a mini-reward, a squirt of dopamine, for answering the bell."
Stay aware out their people, say hi to your neighbor, but don't go fetch anything on his roof for him, trust me. 

Many people want to change their life, but they are not will

 to change their choices, and ultimately this changes 

nothing.



Also, if you want to check out my debut in Thailand radio, here you go. Hopefully a former gospel radio host is enjoying this somewhere. This video may or may not work. If not, I can email it to you.

citations:
The Relationship Between Depression and Internet Addiction by Kimberly S. Young and Robert C. Rodgers
http://www.netaddiction.com/articles/cyberpsychology.pdf

Newsweek, July 16th 2012