Well, guess what! I'm going to Pattaya at the end of the month to help write the national English exams. Go figure. P'Noon is going and invited me to come along. The kids will come, too, just to sightsee.

Pattaya is about 3 hours south of Bangkok in the Chon Buri province, on the Gulf of Thailand . Not terribly far from where I taught when I was here in 2006.

Pattaya would be well known among the Vietnam Vet crowd as it was "the" place to go for a few days r and r during the war. As a result, it is overloaded with bar girls and somewhat skanky white men who come to Thailand for a good time. But like any big city, you could live a totally normal life in Pattaya and never rub shoulders with the shadier elements. I think it is ironic that a city like Pattaya and the girls who work there are looked at askance when in truth, they wouldn't have gravitated there if it weren't for the lure of the American soldiers.

However, another element that is notorious in Pattaya is the ladyboys. They are absolutely stunningly gorgeous. They say if you are looking at two women and trying to decide which one is a ladyboy it will be the prettier one. Now remember once again, ladyboys in Thailand have no snicker value. A mother might say to you, "I have three children, a son, a daughter, and a ladyboy ." Totally nonplus. In my classes, I probably have at least one, possibly two, in each class THAT I KNOW OF. One boy in particular insisted on picking 'Alyssa' for his English name and after a couple volleys I caught on and let it go. I have some students whose gender I am not sure of. The ladyboys at university usually will wear the prescribed uniform - pleated black skirt, white blouse, mid high heels.

But back to Pattaya. Because of the extensive ladyboy population, there are two well known ladyboy cabaret shows - Tiffany's is the one I saw before, I'm not sure of the name of the other one. They are like a stunningly well done Vegas show with a lot of talent and beauty and a good dose of humor thrown in. Afterwords, you can get your photo taken with the cast for about a dollar US.

I'll send pics. 555

oh, this is so cute. In Thai, the number 5 is pronounced "haa". So when the kids text each other or write on Facebook, they write 555- ha ha ha .

I signed my contract today so I am an official employee of the university despite the fact that I have been working here 6 weeks. Maybe now I can log on to the registrar's office and get a class list after 3 weeks of teaching without one!

  I will have national social security and health insurance although everyone poo-poos it when I mention the health insurance part. "You don't really need it, I went to the doctor a last year and it only cost me 200 B ($6) for the visit and the medicine. I didn't even turn it in."  And of course, for little things like malaria or strep throat, you just go to the pharmacy and get antibiotics over the counter. Likewise for birth control pills, viagra, valium, Retin A for acne, etc. Most pills (even aspirin, decongestant, etc.) are sold in blister packs of 10, so they are cheap per tablet to begin with plus you only buy minimal amounts at one time.

Add to that the (everywhere but America) mentality that you don't run to the doctor every time you get an impacted fart .

My classes are going well. I dreaded teaching debate and actually it's not half bad. 80% of the class can speak spontaneously, which is quite a remarkable feat when you think about it. (I, on the other hand, have to think what I want to say, translate the bits I know into Thai and sputter out broken sentences that sound like a caveman with a speech impediment. "Need bus Khon Kaen" or "where plate food?")

A couple poor souls in my classes don't have a clue and probably never will. Like the boy who answered on his quiz - "Choose Strong or Weak"  (evaluating debate statements) He chose "choose" for each statement. Well, he had 3 words to choose from, what are the odds "choose" was one of the answers?

I will try to upload a few pictures of my lovely studio apartment. 555