First Day at Camp

For me to wake up voluntarily before 6a.m means I must be excited about something…elephants!

Before heading to the camp, we were taken to a local café for breakfast. The Thai lady who ran it had lived in Germany for a few years and it seemed very surreal to be speaking (very basic) German in Thailand while eating a very English (sausages, eggs, toast and tea) breakfast!

As we got to the camp the poorness of the area suddenly hit me. There was rubbish everywhere, the river was filthy and everything seemed to be falling down. Nevertheless we were greeted at camp with huge smiles and they seemed genuinely pleased to see us.
First we had a welcome ceremony complete with a pig’s head, dead chicken, whiskey and an assortment of local flowers. This was to ask for a good week for everyone and I was touched when the prayer required us all to be touching each other. Instead of just bowing our heads we had to be physically touching each other as we were all asking for the same thing.

So here she is! Dern Pen which means full moon in Thai. She is an older elephant and is so sweet which is why Pin calls her the grandma of the group. I wondered why on earth she had a purple nose but when the doctor visited later I found out it was just an iodine solution to stop infection.

The Mahout in charge of Dern Pen is Picchan. He is very quiet, shy and speaks little English but we found some common ground when I found out he loves Chelsea FC. Our main duties today included cleaning the camp, feeding and bathing the elephants, and learning to command them using Thai words.

Everything went well today but Picchan tells me I need to shout more and not be so nervous. The good thing is that elephants can be bribed so easily with the promise of fruit so if she doesn’t feel like listening I just show her a banana and she follows me anyway. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing it is to just be so close to these beautiful creatures – they are wonderful.
After that we just had time to check out the local beach, enjoy noodles for dinner and visit the local supermarket before bed.

Welcome to Thailand

* It was snowing in Fukuoka when we left Japan and I was once again reminded that this is going to be my first hot Christmas. The pilot told us to expect the first 2 hours to be a bit bumpy LIAR – the entire 6 hours flight was bumpy and I was not a happy bunny.

* Our driver Mr. Na met us at the airport. He reminded me of Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies. He spoke English quite well and on the long drive told us all about the local area, the Royal family, the flag and even taught us a few words of Thai.

* When we arrived at Pattaya we met Arnon (who runs the volunteer company) and Pin (working as an intern). They were very cool and because it was getting late they took us out for dinner. The first “wow I’m in Thailand” moment, came when I saw how we were going to get around.

* This wonderful vehicle is called Mrs. Dream and, believe me, being on an eight-lane road chugging along beside huge lorries is an experience.

* We ate chicken and rice from a road-side food stall and spent a couple of hours chatting about the week ahead and things we can expect. My first thoughts were that Arnon and Pin were very cool. I felt like I’d known them for years and Arnon got huge brownie points when he told me he liked Jack Black!



* Our accommodation for the week is amazing and after a quick shower, I was asleep in minutes.

No Truer Words

“You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.” Charles. F. Kettering

Well I’m off to Thailand tomorrow and if stubbing my toe is the only thing I have to worry about then it should be a great adventure.

Last Day

Today is my last day of work until January 5th!

I spent the day at Tatsuda teaching the kids Christmas words and getting them to make Christmas posters. It was a really fun class and at the end of some of the classes they kids gave me their posters as a present.

I was touched when one boy came up to me and said that he wanted to give me the poster as a present but he also wanted to show it to his mother later on. After debating what to do for a few minutes he decided to take the poster home but give me another present which turned out to be a Christmas story booklet from the local store- so cute!

Party Time!

Because Kuma-Jet used the money they raised at Mid Year to buy presents for all the kids at the orphanage we were hoping to have a big Christmas party tonight. Unfortunately the flu has broken out, the place is on lockdown and only our usual group was allowed to come.

Still we made the best of it, the Kuma-Jet crew came and we had a great night. The kids loved their presents and the workers were overwhelmed that we bought something for everyone.

The Fantasy Railroad in the Stars

Tonight I went to see a play and had I known it was going to be so sad I would’ve packed the tissues. 銀河鉄道の夜, Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru is a classic Japanese novel written by Kenji Miyazawa around 1927. In English the title translates to “Night on the Galactic Railroad” but if you are expecting a Star Trek style story you will be disappointed.

The full story can be found on Wiki but the saddest part for me (stop reading now if you don’t want to know anymore………)

…is when the children realise that the train they are on is taking them to the afterlife. They suddenly remember they were on a boat that was sinking and the fact they are now on a train means they did not survive. They know their mother is far away so they shout their goodbyes to her across the stars. They basically tell her they are fine, don’t worry about us, have a good life etc. The kids acting in the play did such a good job and before long I was sobbing uncontrollably!

Countdown to Thailand!

The plans for Thailand are finished; flights are booked, reservations made and now the countdown can begin. We will spend the first week in Pattaya volunteering at the elephant camp then we will fly to Phuket for a week to see Ken and relax. I am so excited because this will be my first hot Christmas!

On the other hand, since I’m going away there doesn’t seem much point decorating my house so it doesn’t really feel like Christmas…….what am I sad about? I am going to Thailand!!

Gift Ideas

I finally thought of a present for mum and dad. I’m going to send them one of those electronic photo frames. I’ve been looking at them for a while and think they are a great idea.

I didn’t want to send them an empty one so I decided to go through my pictures, choose my favourite ones from my time in Japan and put them on there. When I had finished searching a realised I had chosen over 400 pictures! Thankfully the photo frame has a huge memory so I put them all on there.

To see the pics I chose….

http://public.fotki.com/supergenki/december-2009-thailand/the-best-of-japan-so-far/

Cheeky Monkeys!

During my last few visits to Nagamine I have been trying to decorate my English room with lots of fun posters and activities. Today I finally finished it and here are the results.

The kids love the Alphabet Corner. I thought it might be a little difficult for the younger ones but they try really hard and challenge each other in teams. I’m so glad it worked out!

I also had fun with the tiny first year kids at lunch and it was my duty to keep them all entertained for over 20 minutes using only animal sounds. It was actually a lot easier than it sounds - I’m a sucker for the cute little kids!

Christmas Plans!

Even the post office tanuki is ready for Christmas.

Luckily I am too!

Christmas cards written? Check!
Christmas gift list sorted? Check!

I also like the quote in my organizer today by Samuel Beckett

“Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”