In Da Beginning, God Made the Hostel. And he saw that it was Good

Night the First in Thailand. Sweet tours that we won't be able to afford. The hostel is very cool, good social room and def nice staff. Can't wait for Jessica and Sara to get here (don't be mad about which one comes first--every time I type those two names I think, which one goes first? and there's no clear Louis and Clark kind of ring to the names. So it's really just arbitrary and I've been trying to switch it up). We'll probably rock the neighborhood but I haven't actually been out and about yet. Only got in about 4 hours ago, 3 of them spent on sleep. Happy to find 20cent beers available in the lobby. Let's see how far this money can stretch! If we actually stick to the hostel, in 3 weeks over half of my money will be spent on rent alone. Bum bum bum... But that's just a reference point, not an intention.

Today at the Malaysian airport, there was a guy working with a shirt that said, in the fasion of I <3 NY, "I <3 DOME." Ballsy! And then as I was wandering around trying to kill 12 hrs in the airport, (beautiful airport by the by, very good spot to have to kill a few hours..maybe not 12, but you know) what did I hear but "you know I can't right now so baby KISS ME THROUGH THE PHONE"

That's right. Soulja Boy in Southeast Asia.

Much love, from both Soulja Boy and yours truly.

The View From Saturday

I'm nervous! Think not even going out on a Saturday night (albeit rainy) because I'm scatterbrained. Think scatterbrained like Ben can be.

Things change quick and then you move to the beach for the summer and lose touch with the internet. I'm headed to Thailand on Monday (about 29 hrs from now). My friends Sara and Jessica will get there 4 days later.

Trip plan:

Leave Buffalo at 6am, arrive in Newark, NJ at 4pm. Leave USA at 10pm.

Get to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 6:30am. Stay 12 hrs.

Hop over to Phuket, Thailand at 6:45pm and find a bus to the hostel in Phuket City.

Stay for 3 nights and then go meet Jessica and Sara at the airport.

Now it's Thailand

I'm going to go work in Thailand with Sara.

Fact 1: A night at a hostel in southern Thailand- $5 USD
Fact 2: Amount of couch surfers living in Phuket- 1,000

The only sure thing is that we're leaving the country August 10.

Google Map Kunming

Check it out! I love google maps.

Kindergarten Goals

I've decided, screw the customer service industry, I want to teach kindergarten or adults over 25yrs old. That's an important decision on the road to finding a job in China. Considering I couldn't find any jobs that weren't teaching jobs...

Choose Kunming

Choose life, choose a dishwasher, choose spending Saturday afternoons writing blog entries about fantasy travels.

Choose Kunming, because that's where my brother says he'll probably go!

I repeat, with the important emphasis: My brother has said he'll probably be going to China!

Now I'm thinking I may want to make a stopover in Korea for a couple months to build up some operating capital. You can chill there for up to 90 days without a visa, and I could make some heavy money off of privates in that time. Gotta think more on that possibility, since I'm not managing to save up the amount I had hoped here.

Job Hunting

What kind of job will I have in China?

Teaching is a natural choice. There's a demand for English teachers, I have a year's worth of experience to offer, and I'm enthusiastic about most aspects of it.

It's hard to find a job via the internet from half a world away, but TESS looks like it might be pretty great. I'm also considering contacting my old recruiter, Asia-Pacific Connections, to see if they know of any reputable recruiters for Chinese jobs.

If I don't teach, will I work as a maintenance man at an organic cooperative market?

In other news, Sara and I had our first language/culture lesson with Mike Kopalek recently. Most importantly, we learned how to say, "In my country, I am the emperor." More on that later..