Rainy season????

22 minutes until bed time.
A few things. I'm not very good at describing things and my English could use some work.
I do a very fast possibly non existent revision before posting.
I wouldn't really take my advice or listen to the things I say. I honestly don't know what I'm talking about.

So apparently this is rainy season

It hasn't really rained at all this month and has been hot as Hades outside.
If anyone who has lived with me or knows me really well, keeping my room clean and organized is a STRUGGLE. Not sure why, I get motivated once a month to clean and organize it but its the maintenance that I have an issue with. It actually does bother me and sort of affects my sleep. So. I finally bought a bunch of things to make my room less awful. Long story short I bought  a few plastic drawers to put in my room, thought I could be a hero and drive with one hand with the plastic thing in my hand. Couldn't do it. So this really nice maybe 16 year old Thai girl gives me some rope so I can tie it around the plastic drawers and drive home with it and gives me duct tape so it didn't fall onto the street. Made my night. There is a picture of this, you will get it hopefully soon. Went to a Halloween party the other night, here is a picture or two:





A few other facts.
Went "swimming" on Saturday with 2 other friends. Now, there was a small sign that I can only imagine said closed. I can't read Thai so we decided to ignore said sign. Well 20 minutes later a Thai lady shows up and she is not amused. Isn't smiling or trying to motion that we aren't allowed in there, just is speaking Thai really fast and is not in a good mood. We get the hint and start to leave. She starts talking to some other Thai people and is laughing and is probably a nice person. We pay muban dues so we thought that we could swim for free, apparently it is like 20 baht or something so this lady had a bit of a hate on for us (In Thai culture, the foot is the dirtiest part of the body and Thai people don't step over you, they will walk around just so you don't see their feet) well so this lady as I'm on my bike getting ready to leave turns her back and kicks her one foot at me. A MAJOR insult here. I was not thrilled. But she is an old Thai lady and there wasn't much I could do. Then the next day, an old Thai man yells and me and Kait (from Kait's corner) (mostly at Kait) for the dog that lives at my house barking at him and the neighbors then the fact that she can't speak Thai. So not the best luck with older Thai people UNTIL later that day, I always wear my helmet but did not this particular trip and long story short got stopped by a policeman saying this is the law in Thailand, why aren't you wearing a helmet. Talk to him for a bit, smiling, bashing my long eyelashes at him, then asks me where I'm from. I say Canada. He smiles and says go ahead. Thank. You. Canada.

Karyn and Scott. Canadians. Enough said. 

Question: Anything you want me to post about that I haven't covered in my non extensive blog history? Anything you want more or less from? DELETE blog? Write a nice/mean/emotional comment here or on Facebook, it might make me feel some sort of emotion. I sort of miss Canadian things.

Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.

THE OMEGA NEBULA

Here, a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gas mingle in the extremely massive and luminous molecular nebula Messier 17. Also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, M17 is a hotbed of star formation, located about 5500 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation.

I think I saw 2 people in love today

(On my way home from basketball and to try and pick up my laundry that is almost never on time (it wasn't ready) I saw a maybe 20ish year old Thai girl on the back of the bike of her I'm guessing bf and she just looked very comfortable and didn't seem to care where they were going, just happy she was hugging the person she adores. I found it very lovely)

Have 10 min before my bed time so here we go. Last time I posted I just got into Phuket. Not everyone loves Phuket because it is super touristy and somewhat seedy. I liked it!! The island is crazy big, if you want a laid back beach, baam Kamala, if you want a party scene that is honestly crazy, somewhat illegal in most countries and surprising, Patong. Want a real thai city, Phuket Town. My hopes were very low for Phuket because I didn't hear great things but I was pleasantly surprised. All about keeping your expectations in check..My mom abandoned me one day for an 8am round of golf which produced this great picture:

  I ended up seeing another teacher from my school randomly in the thousands of people on the main street which went well with the theme of seeing teachers from Nakhon in Chiang Mai. If you are thinking about visiting Phuket, I would try and go to a few different places to get a real feel for the place or if you find the right spot right away, just stay. It was nice spending 10plus days with my mom, I think she really enjoyed Thailand and spending time with her only/favorite son. She was a great travel partner and was good to see a percentage of your family. Highlights were 1-being away from work/real life for almost a month 2-Seeing my mom 3-Chiang Mai 4-Phuket 5-Driving around Pai 6-Doing whatever you want all day long.  7-Buying about 25 Christmas presents. So if you think you cracked my top 25....you will find out in December. 8-Fantastic weather.

Back to normal life feels good though, missed my kids and nice being back into a routine. Looks like the rain is here to stay for awhile, I was telling people here that I think the rain is going to get me down a bit but people gave me some good advice and the last few days I just look at the rain and think "You aren't snow and I can deal with being a little wet" however m;y mood is known to change so will keep you updated on this ongoing battle. Future holds no Europe summer unfortunately so looking into things to do next year, going rock climbing in Railay at the end of November so gives me something to look forward to.

2 quick thoughts: 1-While traveling is fun and new, there are some downsides so if you do decide to travel with someone, make sure you like them because being another world away and having to deal with constant decisions about hotels, food, itineraries, flights, tours ext can get exhausting even if you do like the person. If you are thinking about getting married and haven't done any extensive traveling, you might want to give it a go, you might be (un)pleasantly surprised. I have a feeling a few people on their honeymoons quickly realized they might have just made a big mistake.

2-My hair is getting very long. I went to my barber when I got back and the girl who did it sort of made a motion to touch up the sides of my hair, I nodded. So she did a little more than touch it up, hard to explain but the words uneven and bizarre come to mind. A few kids in my class have the same basic haircut as me. Just sayin.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They're there to keep other people out. They're there to show you how bad you want something.

Al Gore's roommate in college was Tommy Lee Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJT67NApROI&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cpULFQ13pI&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXc3HOaOiJ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFKJCT1INA0&feature=relmfu

I honestly can't wait to co-own/have a baby

Right, right, right now, I'm in the Chiang Mai airport, charging my moms IPod, hoping she comes back from wherever she says she is. I had my doubts.
Just want to a massive mall, bigger than the Rideau Centre, had so much stuff so I obviously ate at Pizza Hut. Got a massage, walked around this crazy big mall then back to the airport for our 10:45pm flight. Oh and I saw a verrrrry rude t-shirt on a thai young lady. I'm all about having funny t-shirts, some would say somewhat shocking to one that is certainly offensive. This one was by far the worst I've ever seen. I have some younger readers so lets just say the t-shirt said "I hold hands on the first date". NOT WHAT IT SAID.
 Flying is way classier than walking or taking a bus. Woke up this morning, did some interneting, my mom came back with chocolate milk, banana chocolate chip muffin, milk and Frosted Flakes.  Not the worst way to wake up. So. No elephants ate me. Was only on an elephant for a little bit, did not like it all al, very touristy and just didn't seem right. Did a decent trek into the jungle. Scene: (another camera issue has arisen, more stolen pictures)

Kamala Beach. Where we are spending today and tomorrow.

Slept in this village, ate some Thai food that our guides made, stayed up for a bit playing games with a couple from France and our guides. The next day, took a truck down the hill, went to a hot spring: (will post soon)

then did the whole touristy thing. Temple, Golden Triangle, something to do with a scorpion, Opium museum (something I am considering offering under the table at a my future first ever schawarma shop) and another temple.

That night, had supper with my mom then walked around Chiang Rai trying to find an NFL football game but to no avail. Oh and the Cowboys lost, quelle surprise. Played connect four, JJJJJJenga and dominoes at a bar near our guesthouse. Today we took a bus to Chiang Mai then had a few hours to kill before our flight to Phuket. Never been there, biggest island in Thailand and a huge tourist destination. After that, back to the tried and true Nakhon Si Thammarat, get a few things organized then back to shaping the minds of Thailand's future. 3 weeks is long enough of a break and we have a bunch of time off in December. Might go rock climbing at the end of November to give myself something to look forward to. Halloween is soon too, not sure what will take place but hopefully something that involves me going to bed early. That is a somewhat accurate summary of your friend, consultant, zoo keeper, blogger, uncle, teacher and scientist. Enjoy whatever day it is.
Bert Brandon III

I have a lot of free time so I'm trying to think of things that have happened that I have forgotten to write down. If I am repeating myself, go read, stop paying so much attention:
-I parked outside a 7-11 to get something after school, came back and a police officer was giving me a ticket for parking wherever I was parked. I motioned that the bike was mine and he somehow guessed I didn't speak Thai, just sort of looked at me and let me go. Bert 1- Police 0. For now, I have a feeling they might want to even the score.
-I am getting a crazy amount of compliments about my lavishly long eyelashes this trip. People keep asking me if they are real then secretly asking themselves how this lady boy looks so good.
-The longer I'm away the less you miss things like Wendy's and Tim Horton's and Blue Gatorade. BREAKING NEWS: Went into a 7-11 a few weeks ago and BBBBBBBBBAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!: Blue Gatorade. No need to go home anymore.
-I may or may not have Aladdin sheets.


Canadians consumer more macaroni and cheese than any other nation on earth.

Elephant Trek Tomorrow

Getting late, about to watch an episode of Mad Men, then bed. Posting this in case an elephant eats me in the next 2 days. Going on an elephant trek tomorrow, coming back Mondayish, will miss football but on the bright side won't have to watch the Cowboys lose. Pai is such a nice place, so many hills and great places to eat. Ate at Thai Kebab twice, once for a BAGEL!! and once for shawarma. Lebanese for is so good so I had a great idea. I've met a few Lebanese people in Ottawa and I'm pretty certain I've nerve seen a shawarma stand or restaurant in Ottawa, so once I get back, I will open the first ever in Ottawa, stay open late and cater to the after bar crowd. Hope nobody steals this idea by the time I get back. Pai:

In Chiang Rai now, walked around a bit today, had supper with my mom, got a foot massage and hoping for decent weather tomorrow.



Enjoy your weekend and stay out of the headlines.


In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vskv1Rpujwg