an adventure Down Under (part 2)

Wednesday morning we woke up to more gray skies. We ventured out to Darling Harbor where we ate a delicious chocolate breakfast at Guylian’s Café (yum!) and then ran through a downpour to get the ferry to Circular Quay (pronounced “Key” just fyi, I had no idea.) We got our first glimpses of the iconic opera house but decided to do our tour later in the afternoon and took advantage of the sudden break in the weather to wander through the nearby Botanic Gardens. Then we visited the art museum, the library, Parliament building, wished on the hospital’s replica of Il Porcino and then made our way back to tour the opera house.

What a cool building! I hadn’t realized that there was such controversy and difficulty surrounding the construction. I’d heard that the design was revolutionary and there were people who didn’t like it, but that was just the beginning. Jorn Utzon, a Danish architect, won a competition for the design but there were many aspects of the engineering that hadn’t been completely thought through. Consequently, it took sixteen years to complete, ran into countless complications throughout construction, faced government blockades, was subjected to various design changes along the way, ran well over budget (nearly 90 million over!) and resulted in Utzon leaving Australia never seeing the completed building in person, though his son has continued to act in his stead. It has since won world-wide acclaim on many counts including architectural awards and World Heritage status. In my humble opinion (which, let’s be honest, means absolutely nothing) it was worthy of all the hype.

Later that evening, after some necessary snacking and souvenir shopping, we went back to the Opera House for a rousing performance of The Magic Flute. Directed by Julie Taymor (of Lion King fame) it was full of puppetry and incredible sets. It was great to experience some live art again after so many months, and in such a fabulous venue! It buoyed us up for a long ferry wait and then a long walk back to our hotel in the rain.

Thursday we had hoped to spend a day at the beach, but those ever-present rain clouds put a damper on those plans quite literally. Rather than donning bathing suits we layered on some rain coats and took a stroll across the Harbor Bridge and wandered around the neighborhood area known as The Rocks where I enjoyed a delicious scone and clotted cream and we waited out the worst of the downpour in a market. Then we took a ferry ride across the harbor to Manly which had a lovely spot of beach, pier and waterfront that we explored in the drizzle. We headed back just before dark and then spent the rest of the evening exploring the Queen Victoria Building and the surrounding city.

always a good reminder!

Suspended Stone Circle by Ken Unsworth

Manly waterfront

there are some blue fairy penguins on Manly as well, though all we saw were the signs

one of the beaches on Manly

inside the Queen Victoria Building (shopping center)

more QVB

an adventure Down Under.

Monday we’d booked a tour of the Great Ocean Road. The road was built just after World War I by returning soldiers in an effort to provide jobs and stimulate the economy (similar to the US programs of the Civilian Conservation Corps and such.)  It's also dedicated to those soldiers who didn't return home from the war, making it the world's largest war memorial.

Our weather was a little sketchy and we hoped it would hold to give us a brilliant sunset but we got drizzled on most of the day. Our tour guide stopped for a tea break along a river (I could really get used to the British way of life, tea and biscuits –aka cookies-- are used to solve most of the world’s problems!), chased through the underbrush to bring us back an echidna, showed us how to feed some of the wild birds and pointed out koalas in the trees along the road. We had a perfect spot of sunshine when we toured the Otway Lighthouse. Our afternoon drive took us along the coast, through farmland and rain forest and finally to our dinner stop (the best fish and chips EVER, bought in a tiny hole in the wall next to a gas station, never underestimate!) Loch Ard Gorge was a beautiful little cove reminiscent of the beaches in Thailand. And then we drove on to the viewpoint for the 12 Apostles, large limestone and sandstone rock formations that stand like sentinels along the coastline. We had a lot of cloud cover that marred our sunset and made some of the rocks in the distance hard to distinguish but it was still an amazingly beautiful sight.

We spent Tuesday wandering around the city of Melbourne enjoying the warmth of the sun as we explored Federation Square, the library and the waterfront. It was such a lovely little city, a great mix of Victorian and modern architecture, vibrant but comfortable. It was easily walkable but we also took advantage of the trolleys and train system. I wished we had more time to spend there but we had a flight to catch. We were off to Sydney!

a cute and cuddly echidna

Cape Otway

Otway Lighthouse

Loch Ard Gorge

a few of the 12 Apostles

more of the Apostles

a bucket list moment.

One of the goals on my bucketlist, one I never thought I’d actually accomplish, was to visit all seven continents. Enter countless years of singlehood, life paths I never began to imagine and cheap tickets and that equals two continents in one blow. Asia and Thailand made number six so it only made sense to start planning that trip to number seven; Australia. Turns out since it’s on the same side of the planet as number six that flights there are relatively cheap and easy. The vacation itself was on the spendy side but it only cost me $200 to get there. How on earth could I pass that up? Answer: I couldn’t! And of course, seeing as how I was that close, it really just made sense to add New Zealand to the itinerary. I was all set to go it alone but did some pretty decent persuading and ended up having a friend from Virginia join me which only sweetened the deal. A week in Australia and a week in New Zealand were just what this girl needed to ease her back into the realities of paying more than a dollar for a meal, driving a car (though still on the left-hand side of the road), and coping with the phenomenon of understanding what the people around me.

First off was a stop in Melbourne. There was an enthusiastic and somewhat tearful reunion at the airport Sunday after a series of flights from Udon Thani to Bangkok to Malaysia and finally Australia on my part, DC to LAX to Melbourne on Jenny’s part. We were both a tad jetlagged but after taking the train to our hotel and getting settled we ventured out to Queen Victoria Market to wander among the stalls and eating some fabulous lunch. The rest of the afternoon we wandered through Kings Domain and the surrounding parks and gardens, past the Memorial Shrine where we heard an orchestral performance, and then all the way down to the St Kilda pier. Here we watched the finishers of the Iron Man celebrate, walked along the beach, ate an amazing dinner on the water, spied a few of the elusive blue fairy penguins that nest on the pier, witnessed a fabulous sunset and then made the long walk back to the hotel.  

Part two tomorrow!

the city of Melbourne as seen from St Kilda pier

look closely, there's a penguin in there!

coming home.

Oh my goodness. Where to start?! The past week has been a blur of laundry, dealing with jet lag, eating all the foods I’ve missed while being out of the country, meeting my newest nephew, lots of hugs and mini re-caps of the past six months and otherwise avoiding any semblance of reality. There are a lot of emotions coursing through my head and heart at the moment that I don’t know how to deal with, a lot of choices that need to be made that overwhelm me to the point of paralyzation…and I’m sure you’ll hear more about all of that later (lucky you!) For now though, I’m going to regale you with tales of all the adventures of the last couple of weeks and continue to avoid the reality staring me in the face.

The last few days in Thailand were spent packing and prepping for the kids’ Pride Day program and trying to squeeze in enough food, fun and memories to last me who knows how long until I get to have another adventure. It was hard to say goodbye to so many amazing people, the teachers I had the chance to work with, the kids I’d become attached to, and the girls who started out as strangers and quickly became my friends and lifeline.

Pride Day was the culmination of a year of hard work and all the quirks and foibles and cultural gaps all rolled into a couple of hours. The exact date was undetermined until about two weeks before, as were our exact roles and duties for the day. Once those were figured out there were hours spent planning dances and plays, arranging parts, and decorations, most of which were changed at least twice. The day came and the festivities were supposed to start at 9 and by 9:30 we were just beginning to get underway. The kids did their stuff, each class performing a short skit or dance while the ones who weren’t performing ran wild in the audience among the parents who talked the entire time. There were countless photos taken and hugs given and I admit there were even a few tears shed.

That night there were hugs and tears and laughter on the roof of our apartment building, and then a few more early the next morning before I said goodbye and made my way to the airport. It was with very mixed emotions that I watched Thailand shrink below me through the airplane window. I was surprised at how attached I’d become in such a short amount of time. And with so much unknown facing me on the other end of the runway it made it all even more bittersweet. But in between the takeoff and that runway at home was a two-week vacation in Australia and New Zealand. More to come!

the fabulous English teachers

a couple of the hooligans

program's finally underway

a few more hooligans!

the duck in the park (oh, and us teachers)

a favorite place.

I’ve mentioned the park across the street from my house on a few occasions. It’s been the site of festivals, fireworks, concerts and gatherings of all sorts. But it’s a happening place every single day. There’s a walking /biking track along the outer edge that is packed with people every afternoon. Along the fringes there are yoga and aerobics classes, food vendors, cheerleader practices and pick-up soccer games. The streets bordering the park are lined with shops, restaurants, homes and a temple. Inside the park is a large amphitheater, stage, several bridges, more vendors, a couple of playgrounds (with really fun outdoor workout equipment that needs to find its way to America), statues, gardens, street musicians, the lake (filled with creepy, monster fish with teeth! that people are always feeding), and countless people playing various lawn games.

I’ve seen bocce, lawn bowling, a game that crosses hacky sack with soccer and volleyball and another that is a mash-up of soccer and basketball (but reminds me a bit of quidditch) and regular soccer. There are also usually a few crazy fishermen (I wouldn’t eat that fish if you paid me! Though, in all reality I probably have :)) You can rent bikes of all varieties, get a massage, take your picture with the giant rubber duck, have a picnic or just people watch. There’s not much you CAN’T do here. I spend an hour or so here nearly every day walking or running the track and many of my weekends have been spent napping under its trees or celebrating with the locals. It’s one of the things I’ll miss most when I leave.

the end of a long journey.

I’m down to the last stretch here. It’s crazy to think that six months is nearly over. The time has flown by. We’ve finished up the last of the assessments at school and are working on our dance for the big Pride Day program on the last day. I’ve started packing things up and cleaning things out. We’ve got one more road trip planned and I’ve got a list of people I still need to buy gifts for. I’m officially out of here on March 22 but I won’t be back in the States til April as I’m heading home by way of Australia and New Zealand. I don’t know that I’ll get a chance to post again until after I’m home but I’ll have a lot to share once I do. Thanks for sticking around with me on this crazy adventure. I’ll see you on the other side!

a road trip.

This past weekend a few of us teachers decided to take one last road trip. Lao is only about an hour north of us so we headed that direction to get one more stamp in our passports before our time together ends. Friday night we got on a bus to go to the city of Nong Khai where we stayed in a darling guest house, Mut Mee, on the Mekong River. We wandered through a night market/festival for a couple of hours eating some delicious food, watching a volleyball/soccer game (I’ve never been able to figure out what it’s actually called) and doing some shopping. Then we went back to Mut Mee and spent a couple of hours in the floating bar getting eaten by mosquitoes and visiting with the bar keeper, a young British girl who had come on vacation a few weeks ago and ended up getting a job and staying, and enjoying the cool breeze off the river. The next morning we had a delicious breakfast overlooking the river and then set off to cross the border.

It’s always a gamble when you have to deal with various government agencies, especially when you don’t know the language and aren’t quite sure of the procedures. Things aren’t very clearly marked and I have yet to meet an Asian person who truly understands the concept of a queue. But we’d gotten some pretty specific instructions from the owner of the guest house so we made it through to Lao with very little complications. (Coming back was another story!) We stood in line to pay our fees, get our visas checked, get our pictures taken, and board the bus to cross the bridge and then do the same on the other side. We exchanged some money, found a taxi and we were off.

Our taxi took us 15 or so minutes into the county to the capital city, Vientiane. There’s not actually a lot to see but the goal of getting our passports stamped had already been accomplished so we were free to wander and explore without any real pre-conceived ideas or expectations. Lao had been colonized by the French at one point so it has the benefit of some of that influence to this day including architecture, and more importantly, food! We had some amazing bread (the Thais don’t do bread so well and oh, how I have missed it!), French pastries, a smothered baked potato with real cheese and sour cream (the Thais don’t do dairy well either, aside from ice cream), a salad with amazing feta, some pizza, crème brulee and a breakfast bagel. It was a carb-lover’s dream!

We visited the Asian Arch de Triomph (actually called Patuxai Gate and never completed but modeled after the one in Paris with a few obvious Asian touches) which was beautiful. We climbed up to the top for a pretty great view of the city, fountain and gardens in one direction, tree-lined streets in the other. Inside the building itself every corner was crammed with tables and stalls selling fabulous (dripping with sarcasm) souvenirs.

In between our bouts of eating we saw the presidential palace and a few other beautiful and huge buildings we couldn’t identify as well as a few temples and an ancient stupa. We walked along the river (which was almost non-existent in some places due to its being dry season) and through some shops and enjoyed an evening concert at the base of an illuminated fountain.

The next morning we were back across the border after our breakfast but since we hadn’t had the step by step instructions from anyone it was a little more complicated this time. But we made it with relatively little problem, just a lot of waiting in line and not having the correct forms and such to make it a little longer and more stressful than the day before.

Back in Nong Khai we made our way to a large sculpture garden, Sala Keoku, which was pretty impressive. It illustrates many of the tenants of Buddhism which I would love to explain except it was all in Thai so I’d have to just guess. But I’m sure Wikipedia can tell you more! It was all carved by the same man, who is lying in state under a glass dome in a locked room along with a host of his worldly belongings, a myriad pictures of him and even one of his bloody tissues from his final days (yep, kind of creepy.)

Then it was back to the bus station and back home where we all got together for dinner and a viewing of Frozen which none of us had seen yet (it only showed in Thai in the theaters here) but had heard a ton about. We found a DVD copy for about $1 in one of the markets and decided it was worth the splurge! What a fun show. We all laughed and sang (and maybe even cried a bit) all the way through it. It was the perfect end to a fun weekend but a bittersweet reminder that we’ll be done here soon and who knows when we’ll see each other again. I’m going to miss these faces!!!!

volleyball/soccer game

breakfast view of the Mekong

the missing Mekong on the other side

ancient stupa in the middle of the road

the arch

the view from the arch

massive loaf of bread (the two on the right are a little larger than what you'd buy at the grocery store!)

delicious coconut macaron

Sala Keoku