Just a glimpse...
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:50 pm
It’s hot today.
No, I mean really HOT.
Not hot as in a nice, hot summer’s day, but hot as in getting the roast lamb out of the oven.
And that’s in the shade.
Let me explain what I’m up to. I’m in the middle of translating a daily running maintenance log for a highly technical piece of medical equipment called a bucky-potter, or something. It seems to scan every part of your body inside and out while singing Frank Sinatra and doing a nifty tap dance. It requires a lot of maintenance. About 9000 words a week... <sigh>
For some reason I find myself easily distracted. I’ve been thinking about starting this section for a while, and the latest distraction was the last straw. No time like the present (for anything but work), so like it or lump it, here you go.
The latest distraction I mentioned was the sound of the lady next door quietly but relentlessly beating something to death in the garden. In the vague hope that it might be her husband, I went to have a look. Sadly it was a cobra, and not a very big one.
There are probably a few people in Thailand who know quite a lot about snakes. Unfortunately not many of them are Thai. To almost all Thai people all snakes are deadly. Well, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that the majority aren’t poisonous, and that of the minority that are, most are far from deadly. I bought a book (which reminded me of the ‘I Spy’ books we had when I was a boy) identifying snakes in this region, which is how I was able to identify the bludgeoned snake as an equatorial spitting cobra. Okay, so probably not something you’d want snuggling up to you in bed, but my point is that she had no idea what it was, and neither do the vast majority of people here.
I was once roused from my pc by a sharp shriek from the kitchen, only to see a golden tree snake apparently trying to batter its way through the mossie screen (Mrs Ajarn was shrieking, not the snake). Of course, I didn’t know it was a golden tree snake (mildly venomous, apparently) until later. And that’s the problem. I can’t ask it to hold still while I get the book and fumble through it. So I grabbed a broom and encouraged it to leave my door. It seemed to agree and vanished down a drain. Would I have battered it? I don’t know, but I don’t think so, especially if it was heading in the right direction (away).
Rats, of course, are another matter altogether. Not exclusive to Thailand by any means; I had a few close encounters back in Blighty. Horrible, disgusting things that make my flesh creep. I’d climb over Mrs Ajarn to get away from one... (yes, where rats are concerned, chivalry is dead). I once found one nesting under the bonnet of my sparkling new pick-up truck. I’d always wondered why so many of my neighbours left the bonnet up overnight.
Anyway, back to life in general. Today is Saturday, which is really neither here nor there, as we’re in the middle of the ‘summer’ holiday, so I have no students until early June. This holiday is a real beauty, almost 3 months long. The downside (before all UK-based teachers start throwing virtual rotten tomatoes at me) is that we have only two terms each year, and the other holiday is less than a month.
It’s not summer, of course. My students know the English words for the seasons, but they have no concept of the delights of England in mid-November. You know, incessant driving rain with a strong cold wind and the knowledge that it won’t stop for at least the next 3 days. Here, it’s hot. There are two monsoon seasons, where it’s hot and quite wet. When it rains here, it’s as if someone emptied a bucket of warm water over your head. But that’s the point, really, the water is warm. If you get caught in it, which you inevitably will, you’ll be completely drenched within seconds, and you don’t mind at all. It can actually be quite fun. I can clearly remember the very first time it ever happened to me here – I was living on a small island (Koh Samui) and had left my little bungalow on the beach in the middle of nowhere on my tiny 100cc motorbike in t-shirt and shorts, when the heavens opened. And I just laughed. I roared with laughter all the way. Fortunately there was nobody to see me.
April into May is the hottest time of the year here, but all things are only relevant by comparison, as it’s never cold. Rarely does it sneak below 30 degrees during the day.
Back to today (sorry, this will happen a lot...) – I got up about 8 and leapt athletically into a cold shower. We don’t have hot running water (few people do), but we do have a hot shower. I very rarely switch it on. Sitting outside on the verandah is quite pleasant at that time of the morning and made even more so with a mixer-prepared combination of orange, mango and ice, along with a good book, then a decent mug of real coffee and perhaps a croissant. Then a few hours at the pc. The fan is at my back as I work, but there comes a point at which the fan is of only marginal benefit by drying the sweat fairly quickly. Today at about 1.30 I switched on the air conditioning in the bedroom, had another shower, read on the bed for 20 minutes, then snoozed for an hour. Bliss. To be honest, I’m not sure I could manage without that at this time of year. Of course, leaving the bedroom is torture as the wave of heat literally covers you like a blanket. Back to the pc for a couple of hours, and then cycle over to the swimming pool (only about 500 metres away, but too far to walk!) for 20 minutes or so. Back to the pc.
And that’s today so far. It’s now 6.30 and time for a gin and tonic. I never used to drink gin in the UK, but I find it very refreshing here.
This hasn’t been very exciting for the reader, but it’s not meant to be. I’m just trying to give you a little glimpse of my life here, which is so very different to what went before. It’s certainly not perfect, but then again it ain’t bad.
If there is any interest, I’ll post more from time to time - but don’t feel obliged to comment either way, as I’ll probably post anyway! I’d also very much like to hear some snippets from those other members of the forum who live ‘abroad’ – or from anyone, anywhere who thinks they have something that might be interesting to share.
No, I mean really HOT.
Not hot as in a nice, hot summer’s day, but hot as in getting the roast lamb out of the oven.
And that’s in the shade.
Let me explain what I’m up to. I’m in the middle of translating a daily running maintenance log for a highly technical piece of medical equipment called a bucky-potter, or something. It seems to scan every part of your body inside and out while singing Frank Sinatra and doing a nifty tap dance. It requires a lot of maintenance. About 9000 words a week... <sigh>
For some reason I find myself easily distracted. I’ve been thinking about starting this section for a while, and the latest distraction was the last straw. No time like the present (for anything but work), so like it or lump it, here you go.
The latest distraction I mentioned was the sound of the lady next door quietly but relentlessly beating something to death in the garden. In the vague hope that it might be her husband, I went to have a look. Sadly it was a cobra, and not a very big one.
There are probably a few people in Thailand who know quite a lot about snakes. Unfortunately not many of them are Thai. To almost all Thai people all snakes are deadly. Well, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that the majority aren’t poisonous, and that of the minority that are, most are far from deadly. I bought a book (which reminded me of the ‘I Spy’ books we had when I was a boy) identifying snakes in this region, which is how I was able to identify the bludgeoned snake as an equatorial spitting cobra. Okay, so probably not something you’d want snuggling up to you in bed, but my point is that she had no idea what it was, and neither do the vast majority of people here.
I was once roused from my pc by a sharp shriek from the kitchen, only to see a golden tree snake apparently trying to batter its way through the mossie screen (Mrs Ajarn was shrieking, not the snake). Of course, I didn’t know it was a golden tree snake (mildly venomous, apparently) until later. And that’s the problem. I can’t ask it to hold still while I get the book and fumble through it. So I grabbed a broom and encouraged it to leave my door. It seemed to agree and vanished down a drain. Would I have battered it? I don’t know, but I don’t think so, especially if it was heading in the right direction (away).
Rats, of course, are another matter altogether. Not exclusive to Thailand by any means; I had a few close encounters back in Blighty. Horrible, disgusting things that make my flesh creep. I’d climb over Mrs Ajarn to get away from one... (yes, where rats are concerned, chivalry is dead). I once found one nesting under the bonnet of my sparkling new pick-up truck. I’d always wondered why so many of my neighbours left the bonnet up overnight.
Anyway, back to life in general. Today is Saturday, which is really neither here nor there, as we’re in the middle of the ‘summer’ holiday, so I have no students until early June. This holiday is a real beauty, almost 3 months long. The downside (before all UK-based teachers start throwing virtual rotten tomatoes at me) is that we have only two terms each year, and the other holiday is less than a month.
It’s not summer, of course. My students know the English words for the seasons, but they have no concept of the delights of England in mid-November. You know, incessant driving rain with a strong cold wind and the knowledge that it won’t stop for at least the next 3 days. Here, it’s hot. There are two monsoon seasons, where it’s hot and quite wet. When it rains here, it’s as if someone emptied a bucket of warm water over your head. But that’s the point, really, the water is warm. If you get caught in it, which you inevitably will, you’ll be completely drenched within seconds, and you don’t mind at all. It can actually be quite fun. I can clearly remember the very first time it ever happened to me here – I was living on a small island (Koh Samui) and had left my little bungalow on the beach in the middle of nowhere on my tiny 100cc motorbike in t-shirt and shorts, when the heavens opened. And I just laughed. I roared with laughter all the way. Fortunately there was nobody to see me.
April into May is the hottest time of the year here, but all things are only relevant by comparison, as it’s never cold. Rarely does it sneak below 30 degrees during the day.
Back to today (sorry, this will happen a lot...) – I got up about 8 and leapt athletically into a cold shower. We don’t have hot running water (few people do), but we do have a hot shower. I very rarely switch it on. Sitting outside on the verandah is quite pleasant at that time of the morning and made even more so with a mixer-prepared combination of orange, mango and ice, along with a good book, then a decent mug of real coffee and perhaps a croissant. Then a few hours at the pc. The fan is at my back as I work, but there comes a point at which the fan is of only marginal benefit by drying the sweat fairly quickly. Today at about 1.30 I switched on the air conditioning in the bedroom, had another shower, read on the bed for 20 minutes, then snoozed for an hour. Bliss. To be honest, I’m not sure I could manage without that at this time of year. Of course, leaving the bedroom is torture as the wave of heat literally covers you like a blanket. Back to the pc for a couple of hours, and then cycle over to the swimming pool (only about 500 metres away, but too far to walk!) for 20 minutes or so. Back to the pc.
And that’s today so far. It’s now 6.30 and time for a gin and tonic. I never used to drink gin in the UK, but I find it very refreshing here.
This hasn’t been very exciting for the reader, but it’s not meant to be. I’m just trying to give you a little glimpse of my life here, which is so very different to what went before. It’s certainly not perfect, but then again it ain’t bad.
If there is any interest, I’ll post more from time to time - but don’t feel obliged to comment either way, as I’ll probably post anyway! I’d also very much like to hear some snippets from those other members of the forum who live ‘abroad’ – or from anyone, anywhere who thinks they have something that might be interesting to share.