I finally got a computer! Hooray!

               It is now Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:14 pm.... so to most of you it is the same date but just at 8:14 am... right now I am sitting at this amazing place on the same street as my house (on Chalokratt Road) called Earth Zone.  It's pretty much the coolest decorated restaurant I have ever been in and it has free wireless internet.  I am sitting at a round wooden table with both of my roommates, Mike and Anneliese.  The table is half inside, half outside, since you can do that when it's hot out every day.  I finally got a computer today... it is effin' adorable.  It is a little Samsung notebook that is mostly all white but has a pink top/cover.  It is a great little machine and it only cost me the equivalent of $318... amazing!  I also got a wicked cute pink Nokia phone and it was only the equivalent of $60!  Amazing and adorable technology at a fraction of the price.  It's also kinda crazy because both my computer and my cell phone have English and Thai lettering.
        Anyway, so now this is my 5th full day here in Surat Thani.  I wish I had a computer and the internet before, because I have already had a lot of amazing adventures.  I have taken some pictures and as soon as I can I will upload them so you can see some awesome Thai things.  My first night here was Saturday, and it turned out to be incredible.  We were walking to the Night Market and we ran into the Buddhist Vegetarian Festival.  We were shown by all of these older Thai people how to do this incense lighting ceremony and then they gave us free food and it was delicious.  Then we walked through the Night Market and there were all these people sitting by the river painting ceramic figurines.  On Sunday we went to Big C... Big C seems to be like their version of Wal Mart.  We got a lot of things to improve the situation of our house.... I got a trash barrel and some little shelves and drawers and cleaning supplies and stuff.  My room is much better than it was... there aren't massive spider webs hanging from every part of the ceiling anymore.  Also, we paid our Thai friend V. to clean our entire house one day when we were at work and it looks so much better.
                         My housing situation has improved a LOT, but as always I can find something to complain about.  :)  First, there's still no running water.  I am going on a week of bucket showering and bucket flushing. I have a newfound love for indoor plumbing.  Also for being able to flush toilet paper.  It's pretty nasty putting yucky TP in the trash can and then just having it there.  Second complaint is the bed.  The bed is not actually a bed, it is more like a box spring.  It is hard as a rock and I can feel every single coiled spring.  It is terribly uncomfortable and it hurts my body.  Since my computer was a lot cheaper than I anticipated I think I am going to spend some big baht on a new bed.  On our walk to Big C we saw a bedding store, and let me tell you, Thai people just do not like very soft beds.  Even the new ones are like the firmest beds you'd find in the States, but a new firm bed would still be better than my metal coils!
          Aside from that, everything is so awesome.  I have had some really great food.  My favorite things to eat I can not of course remember what they're called, and even if I could I don't know how I'd spell it.  One thing is this really popular papaya salad.  It's like shredded papaya and veggies and peanuts and this great sweet but spicy sauce.  It's god damn delicious and I love it.  I also love this rice with spicy chicken stuff on top.  Both things cost 25 baht, which is less than a dollar!  For real, if you want to feel like a baller come to Thailand, everything is so cheap in comparison to the United States.  There is also Fanta everywhere, and if you know me you know I love Fanta.  But today I had some crazy pineapple/banana/orange/mango Fanta thinking it might be great but it was like liquefied Runts and put me into a diabetic coma.  There has been a lot of trial and error, since I can't speak Thai I have just been trying things and hoping for the best.
                           Everyone that I work with has been so nice and helpful.  People have been showing us around, giving us suggestions, etc.  Most of the things I do like have been discovered because other teachers have recommended it.  This week I started training.  It is a little bit overwhelming because I am going to have a lot of classes and ages that I have to prepare for.  I know eventually I'll be settled in and it won't seem so overwhelming but for now I'm a bit of a Nervous Nellie.
                                 I know I am leaving out a million things and this was not the most interesting of posts, but I have to go for now.  I'll be back a lot more often now that I have a computer.  Hi USA!!!