Visa Run: Vientiane, Laos

So what exactly does a "Visa Run" entail? What does Visa run even mean? Well for us it means a 2 day vacation to the closest country, in order to get our Visas renewed. 

And what a process it is! In Bangkok, they have "Visa Run" services that take care of everything. Due to my lack of knowledge in this area, this was the route we chose. Called up, made a reservation on the night van to Vientiane, Laos [the "s" is silent, pronounced Lao]. Most of you probably have never heard of Laos, and I don't blame you. I had no idea it was a country till I moved all the way over here.

 So here is a little background (brought to you by the internet):

  Laos is a land-locked country between Burma, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Like Vietnam, Laos is a communist country but the communist party has since the eighties been relaxing its grip on the whole society. Rice production still makes up the biggest portion of Laos’ economy but they also grow coffee, tee and opium.  The country is rich in minerals like gold and copper and more areas are being mined every year.  The country is still pretty poor with about 30% of the population under the poverty line.                Laos has the honor of being the most bombed country on this earth.  I read somewhere that during the Vietnam war, America hit Laos by an average of one B-52 bomb load every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, between 1964 and 1973.  That is more explosive power than was used in the whole of WWII. [CrAzY!]

Now that we are all caught up on our world history. I shall let the story begin. Our journey started in Bangkok, where we met a group of people doing the same thing. Hopped in a van at 8pm. Estimated Time of Arrival: 6am. It will take approximately 10 hours.  Luckily we sat next to a lovely couple, a woman from Chicago and her Thai boyfriend who actually spoke the local Laos language, Issan.  [It is the language of northern Thailand, where he is from.] We hung out with each other the entire time and had a blast along the way. 

Prior to crossing the border we were warned with this sign: 

[Apparently it is illegal to play cards of any kind.] [& since Thailand has a King and Queen it is referred to as "The Kingdom"]

It took us about 2 hours to cross the border after filling out a plethora of paperwork. Thankfully organized by the service we took. The service cost us 6000 Baht which is about $180.00, but that includes the 10 hour van ride there and back, 4 meals, 1 night stay in a guest house, and all the visa fees. Amazing trade off if you ask me. Normally once we cross the border, we would have had to go to immigration, which is exactly like going to the DMV. But, since we are using the service all we had to do was drive by, each take a number and then hand our number, passports and paperwork to the service, and THEY wait there all day and take care of what ever it is they have to take care of.  

While our visas were magically being taken care of, we joined our 2 new friends [whom we did not learn the names of until the taxi ride home, woopsies] for a Tuk Tuk ride to a local temple where they give Laos massages. To be honest the massage stunk, and I currently consider myself a Massage Connoisseur, so I can accurately judge these kind of things!  

The scenery was so very peaceful, and calming.. it was a fair trade. Following the massage was time spent in an herbal sauna!

After our massage, we decided to rent some bikes [at 1$ for 2 days] and ride around to see the city. This trip was not planned, our director at the school actually told us that morning that we had to leave the country. Originally we were planning on going back to Cambodia to visit our friends.. but the van going there had already left. But it worked out lovely... once again playing each day by ear we got a lot accomplished in our short stay. 

Here are some pictures from our ride: 

We were able to take the stairs all the way up to the top. 

This was the view looking down. 

 A woman working in the rice fields. 

We stopped off and went to 2 temples. During a previous war, most temples were destroyed by the Thais. However, the ones that we visited resembled the Thai temples, so they believe that that is the reason they were not burned down. 

The temples were beautiful, we went to one that had over 6000 Buddahs, some big and some small. The landscape was beautiful and so peaceful, obviously you can tell by this random man taking a nap!! [haha]

Laos was very beautiful and still strongly French influenced, you can tell by the architecture. It was actually much prettier than Thailand. The street vendors even sold baguettes with veggies, and eggs. It was delicious and something you cannot easily acquire in Thailand.  But being one of the poorest 3rd world countries in Asia, you would never be able to tell by the state of its capital, filled with such friendly well dressed people! Everything was dirt cheap, they accepted Thai Baht and American dollars as currency which was kinda cool! In Bangkok we have been able to buy DVDs for about $3 a pop, in Laos I found Disney movies for 15฿, or .50¢. Needless to say I stocked myself up! I bought all the Harry Potters, and any Disney movie I could get my hands on, including but not limited to: Snow White, Fantasia, Emperor's New Groove, Cinderella, and Mulan. Buying DVDs has become a slight obsession of mine! When the price of Disney movies is at LEAST $20 in America... I cannot pass up a .50¢ price tag! 

Overall, our trip to Laos was very successful. We made some new friends and we are 1 step closer to  getting our Work permits, and never having to worry about Visa runs for the next year! 

Till next time, Cheers!

Monkey Business

Sa Wa Dee Ka! Or Hello !  

It’s been over a month now and we are slowly getting into a groove of things. We have been working at our new job for a week and a half and enjoying every minute of it! The school year will be over, the middle of next week…Just in time for our 2 week vacation! Haha! Talk about timing!

 In the mean time we have been observing other teachers, and for the past couple of days helping recruit at the new school about 45 min away from our current one. Our day basically consists of sitting around for hours waiting for parents to bring their children in for “testing”. We then evaluate their knowledge of English by asking them questions like “What is your name, what animal is this? How many are there? What color is this?” Etc. Very simple, kid stuff… The cool thing about this new school is that it is still in the process of being built. There are a good amount of trees on the property right next to us, and a group of monkeys that greet us every morning. We were told that the workers feed them everyday, probably not the best idea, but hey! When in Thailand.... We decided we would take full advantage of the situation, and bought some peanuts the day before, so we could interact with them too!

 [ Just to be safe we did ask permission, and the director said it was okay! ]

                 

They were pretty funny, and very cautious! But, boy did they love these peanuts!

Look how tiny their little hands are, it was like feeding furry humans. 

         




      Our first actual day of work was Valentines Day,
 and we weren’t sure if we should expect any sort of celebration. But something we are quickly beginning to realize is that Thai’s will use any excuse to celebrate.  The kids took very kindly to us, giving us lots of chocolate and enough stickers to last a lifetime. Every time I turned around “Chur! Sticker!!!" They usually don’t address you by your name,  mostly “Teacher" or "Chur" for short.  By the end of the day, I looked like such a fool with all my stickers, see for yourself..

Nick got a couple of stickers, but the girls thought he was cute, and decided that stickers wouldn't cut it, he left with 6 roses! Quite the stud on campus! ;) 

  

    The school is a very well known private school in Thailand. The campus is tremendous, with over 14 buildings, including a swimming pool, tennis court, track, and any other amenity you could possibly think of! We really lucked out! We get just about 2 months paid vacation, which leaves us plenty of time to plan our holiday or what the rest of the world calls a vacation.  Our salary is way above average for most Thai people. We make twice as much as the Thai teachers do, for half the amount of work. It’s kind of sad, but I didn’t make the rules, I just play by them! ;)  Most cities do make up for it by charging “Farongs” (foreigners) a higher price for most things, at least in Bangkok and other touristy areas! Luckily for us, our school is on the outskirts of the "Jersey side" of the city; not touristy at all, meaning no reason to jack up the prices! If you are a farong and live here you are either a teacher or a Old Fat divorced man, married to a beautiful Thai woman who waits on you hand and foot. The people in this town are very kind, some rarely see a foreigner and walking down the street we get the occasional, point and stare! Especially parents with younger kids, they will literally point at us and bow, kinda like we are celebrities or zoo animals, I can't decide.  Nick and I went to the mall the other day and I am willing to bet we were the only foreigners in the entire place.  It doesn’t really bother me, and for some reason I don’t feel out of place. I usually can’t understand a word that is spoken to me, but body language and context clues really help when you are trying to figure a situation out. And when in doubt, I just like to make up dialogue in my head. 

Since the school year is pretty much over, Nick and I have been shadowing other foreign teachers, and learning the ropes. Being a private school, they have a really good English Program, and over 50 foreigners on staff. The students get taught all subjects in both Thai and English, which I feel really helps them get a good grasp on things. However, teaching in Thailand is not the same as it is in The States. The purpose for teaching is mainly to make money and to look the best. There is no such thing as failing a kid even if they behave badly, or refuse to do the work. You are to pass them to the lowest degree. So kids being kids (and I can't blame them) know that they can’t fail, no matter what. Having no real consequences is something I am going to struggle with but trying to accept ahead of time. Your teaching ability is judged by how well you grade their homework, and how neat and in line your check marks are. (Seriously) We are playing by an entirely different set of rules, and going with the flow is something that is in my best interest to do. On the plus side, you won't get sued or fired for hitting a child.  Most Thai teachers walk a round with a ruler or stick in their hand and are NOT afraid to use them. And when a ruler is out of reach the old Back of the hand works just fine!

Over all, I am excited for the school year to begin in the end of March. I have no other choice but to take the situation for it is, a well paying job, with great time off to travel and see the world. Which essentially is what we came here to do! We are currently in the process of planning our next trip. The game plan is starting in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand and then Checking out one of its neighboring countries Laos. I've heard many great things about both and am getting excited about seeing more of Asia! 

 Till next time,

     Cheers!

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   *Question of the Day*

   Im curious what do you think?

Should teachers in the states be aloud to use physical force with problem students or do you think the way The US does it is more ethical?
If you were me, if a student was acting up would you take advantage or play it safe?

Respond in a comment below. {It only requires a Gmail account, So please log in, subscribe and let me know what you think, if you take the time to read, I want to hear your opinion!}

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