In a land far far away

It's been a while since I last updated my blog, but what's important is that I'm here I am now so the story goes on....:)


I've been super busy with my new life here in Ao Nang; work 6 days a week and living in a new place and hanging out with new people. Some days are awesome, some less, and it's okay.  It takes time to feel comfortable in a new environment. In the beginning you just don't know your place and you don't know the people you work with and that's why you can't really be yourself with them. And some groups of people it's just harder to fit into. I guess only time will tell how I'll fit in here. This internship is still a wonderful way to get to know a new culture and meet people from all around the world. I do feel truly lucky to be here!

I've noticed four different Types of Thai people so far, I'm sure there will be more later. One type is the friendly and I'll help you in any possible way I can, I'll even go and buy the tofu you ordered and that we don't have now from the store. The second type is the friendly and smiling nou spiik inklisch so I'll just speak Thai even though they don't understand a word I'm saying. The third type is the angry and hostile, like the at a reggae bar last night, getting Really angry because I wanted to order a mohito even though it wasn't happy hour anymore. I didn't know it was only a happy hour drink;) The fourth type is the indifferent that don't say hi nor goodbye( 7eleve girls) I first thought they might be tired of us Westerners, but they're like that to everyone, so I guess they're just bored.

I bought my own mask and snorkel yesterday so I'm really excited! For the last few weeks I've been using Rayas' stuff, but it's kind of disgusting because they're so used. I'll be using them tomorrow at a Phi Phi trip. I still need a pair of snorkeling fins, but I'm gonna look around a bit before purchasing any. I've also bought a long sleeve rash guard, because it gets cold in the water while snorkeling. I feel like I've been using so much money during the short time I've been here. I mean a lot of things are cheap, like eating out, it's just when you do it every single day. We eat out every day, because it's so cheap and because the apartments here don't have a kitchen. Most Thai people eat out as well. I've also been shopping quite a lot, some of the stuff are must haves and others just me likey.

I've had a very interesting two and a half weeks at work. It's certainly been a dive into a undiscovered sea for me. I've been three times at the Bamboo / Ao Nang local island excursion, once at Koh Haa, 4 times at different Phi Phi excursions(some on the day boat and some on the speedboat), once at Koh Hong, 3 times at infos' and 3 times at the office. On the Bamboo excursion we go by speedboat to Bamboo island where we stay for about 2-3 hours. You can snorkel, sunbath and get something to drink at the bar . We enjoy lunch there and then continue to snorkel for about an hour outside Mosquito island. The next stop is Chicken island, where we stay for 30-45 minutes. The last stop is Poda island, where we stay for about 45 minutes. 

The sea days always start at the 2nd office, in other words the storage, at 7 am. Except for Koh Haa, which is on Mondays. Then you gotta be at the storage at 6.30 am. The sea days last until 6-8 pm. So these days can be 13 hours long! The office days are either from 9-19 with a 3 hour free period, or from 11/12- 19. The infos are either at 11/12 am or 5/6 pm. 

First day of my internship

My first day at Raya Divers started at 10 am at the office. Its a 5 minute walk from my apartment so I don't have to wake up too early. The head of the office, Anne, was the one training me. First she told me about the booking voucher. When a customer wants to book a trip, we write down all essential information on the voucher such as the name of the trip, the customer and form of payment. It's cool to notice that they use the same kind of vocabulary as we've done at school. I guess studying actually pays off :D The next task was to add new customers to their customer register and book trips for them. Anne also showed me how to fill in the office payment list. We made a tour around the office(which is very small) with Anne presenting and demonstrating the diving and snorkeling equipment we sell. The last thing before the day was over was going through the scuba diving and snorkeling trips Raya arranges here in Krabi. Tomorrow I'll be working the whole day on the Bamboo / Ao Nang local island excursion. According to my co-workers I'll be needing a lot of sunscreen, obviously because we're on the sea. Therefore I'll pack a sunblock with spf 50. It's my first excursion and it's going to be a very interesting day ;)

Sà-wàt dii khâ and Khàwp- khun khâ ;)

This is my apartment building from the outside

And this from the inside

Balcony

Ps. Sà-wàt dii khâ means Hi, Hello and Khàwp- khun khâ means Thank you

It's been a wonderful day in my new hometown! I met the two other new interns, Iris and Tarja, at Raya and they told me they were going shopping to Tesco Lotus, a shopping mall, in Krabi town so I joined them. We took a local bus, which is very small  and has room for about 8 passengers. The back where you sit is open on the sides, so the wind blows when the driver drives fast. It feels good on a hot day. The ride cost a 100 Thb and lasted about 30 minutes.

A cow riding along haha :D

After the shopping trip we dined and then I went to ran some errands and the girls went to pick up their laundry. A bit later we went swimming in the hotel, right next to Raya office, swimming pool. I'm gonna have to do a swimming test for Raya to be able to take part of their sea trips, so I was good to get some practice. It was getting dark. The sun usually goes down at 6-7 o'clock., but it's not that dark yet. We headed to the beach boulevard, which is long and full of shops, restaurants and massage places. There's a lot of Finnish and Swedish tourists here, not one day goes by without hearing one of those languages. Suddenly we saw something very interesting- A mini spa with aquariums filled with doctor fish! Doctor fish is the name given to two species of fish: Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus. In other words nibble fish.  What these fishes do is that they nibble away the dead skin. It tickles like crazy!:D We couldn't stop laughing. It lasted for 15 minutes, and I can tell you, it was enough!

The last highlight of the day was going to a spa:) I've never been to a professional masseuse before and I'm glad I saved myself for this experience. I got a full body coconut butter massage and a manicure and a pedicure. It was heaven! The masseuse, who by the way was a ladyboy, massaged me from head to toe. She and the one who gave my co-worker Tarja a full body scrub, were so kind and professional.  All this cost only a 1000 Thb. The prices vary from place to place so don't choose the first best, I'm sure there's even something better and cheaper. Tomorrow is my first day of work. I'm excited and curious. I'll be getting a good night sleep after this day:)

First impression

 Today I ate some breakfast at the hotel and then I packed my stuff and headed to the office across the street. There I found out I wasn't the only intern at the moment, in fact there is plenty more. Some have been there for a while and some came just before me. I'll let you know when I know more. The person who was going to help me find an apartment wasn't there, so I had 3 hours of free time before I needed to return to the office. And where would someone who has just arrived in Ao Nang go? To the Ao Nang Beach of course! The beach is beautiful and the landscape amazing, I can't wait to see more!;) It's very tropical and jungly here, and I like it:) I spent my 3 hours there, walking in the hot sand, talking to a guy from New Zealand and a Finnish couple from Tammisaari, and of course swimming in the warm water. The Raya staff told me to buy some Electrolyte beverage powder to be mixed up with water, so that I'll have enough salt in my body. They also told me to buy a prepaid, which I did, I'm not sure I'm using it the right way though. But I'm sure it's gonna work out sooner or later. 

Then the funniest thing happened. I went to eat some late lunch at a restaurant 50 meters from Raya, sat down and ordered, wrote something in my diary and then I saw him- My old classmate from some years back, with his girlfriend and friend, who all went to my high school! I joined them at their table and we had a nice lunch together:) I mean, there's a lot of Finnish tourists here, but I just didn't imagine seeing anyone I knew, what a nice surprise. 

Finding an apartment didn't turn out to be as easy as we had thought. Apparently it's high season and the prices are a bit higher then normally, but at last we found one. I rented it for one month(in case I feel like trying something else) and it costed 9000 Thb. It's in a cute green apartment building, on the third floor with a fridge, air condition, a shower with both warm and cold water, wi-fi, a tv and a balcony. It's right across from 7eleven, there's a restaurant downstairs and one of my colleagues lives one floor up. The landlady is a friendly older woman, who helps me whenever I need it. 

Oh and about payment in general; cash is mostly used here, not many places take for example Visa electron or Mastercard. I'm still a bit confused with how much Thb is in Eur, so I wrote it down for myself and thought it might help you understand things better too :) : 

 100 thb = 2,64 eur                                                             

1000 thb = 26,43 eur

10 000 thb = 264,27 eur

100 000 thb = 2642,70 eur

Ps. What is one of the most common mistakes you can make the first time you're at the beach?...I think you know the answer- Not put enough sunscreen, or "coughing" not At All on your back ;D

GO! ;)

My journey began, it feels like it was today because I've been travelling non-stop for about 22 hours, but to be correct, yesterday at 5am in the morning. I slept only 3 hours, thanks to my incredibly smart idea to go very late to bed every night before my depart to beat the time difference. I just didn't take the time confirm that the time is actually 5 hours more than in Finland, not less!:D 

I said goodbye to my parents at the security check( where I Always beep while walking through the alarm gate, and so also did this time;) and went to look for my gate. My first flight was to Milan and it took 2 hours and 50 minutes. The flight was quick and easy, apart from the times a baby cried for 15 minutes in a row, however she was very cute so I forgave her. At this point I didn't feel so tired. Well this was going to change. My next flight was to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. This flight was 10 hours and 30 minutes. It didn't feel like such a long time when there was movies and TV-series to watch and food was served 3 times during the flight. However, it was exhausting because I couldn't sleep. It's impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position in an airplane seat! Believe me I tried everything, even the stupid looking ones, but NO. The staff was very nice and efficient. It felt like everything they did happened so fast. 

Then it was time for my last flight, which was to Phuket. I tried to sleep the whole flight, but it was like half sleeping. While in Phuket, after standing in line to the immigration office for what felt like forever, the officer said there was some form missing and his English was so bad that he couldn't explain to me what kind of a form it was. Luckily one Russian man came to my help and told me to fill in a immigration form I could get from the office before the lines, no biggie. So I did this and was welcomed to the country. 

The final part was ahead; the taxi ride to Krabi to my hotel Harvest House. I was so tired that the ride made me feel a bit sick so I lied down on the backseat of the car and the driver gave me a neck pillow to make it more comfortable. The taxi driver had so trouble finding the hotel, but he asked some people on the way and I felt I could trust him to take me there, and so he did:)

Now Good night along with some pictures!

Ready, set...

Okay so here we go :) This is a blog about my job training and staying in Krabi, Thailand spring 2012!! I'm leaving tomorrow, but I still have the whole last day ahead of me. Not that I was planning to do anything special, probably just pack and hang out with my family. Yesterday I said goodbye to all of my closest friends over a dinner at a Mexican restaurant in central Helsinki. It was sad, wistful and surreal, yet nice as always. I know I'll be missing them and my family, however 5 months is not a long time when you put it in perspective. No one will even notice I'm gone until I'm back again. And thanks to modern technology and social networking I can be in contact with everyone back home more than easily;)

I'm gonna talk a bit about the packing process. It's so difficult to pack for a longer journey! A week or two it's like whaeva, but when we talk about months it becomes challenging. What will I need and what will I actually use and wear of the things I pack? I assume it's gonna be pretty hot out there in Krabi so I'm mostly gonna need shorts, tops and flip flops. I'm allowed one bag with a maximum weight of 23 kg and a carry- on baggage with the maximum weight of 8 kg. I'm going to pack the suitcase half full, so that there will be space for the stuff I buy in Thailand, but my rucksack is quite small so it will be packed full. 

Here is a list of some things I'll pack in my:

* Janis *