August

Hello Family and Friends.

Well its that time of the month  again for Monthly Update on  what's been happening in and  about and what not...with me!  Well its been a roller coaster  of a month and man oh man  have I got some pearlers to  tell!!  Where to start is another  story all together…. Well July  came and went and so did my time with Dunkin the squirrel… Unfortunately I had to lay Dunkin-Doughnutkins to rest  (by chucking him over the  wall into the forest next door)  because…..obviously….we  were so cute together.
We would sleep on the couch together happily, but one  evening he decided to sleep  under my leg. My Big hepha- lump leg squashed him flat  like a darned pan-cake!  Oh well...as they say  here...Mai pen Lai…kind of  the equivalent to Hakunamatata….


I,m really starting to settle in now and staring to find my  place among the millions of  faces….i still stick out...about  a foot above everyone else  but its getting easier, consid- ering I am now learning to read and write and my speaking is improving 10 fold. So lets begin............

I have been lucky enough to find some truly lovely friends here in Thailand. Starting wit the first girl I met on the net- ters team; Chantal, who intro duced me to a Saffer (south  African) lady; Tracy who in  turn introduced me to  Stephanie and Sadi who I  now see on a weekly basis.  Steph is from Perth Aus and Sadi from Switzerland. Both great girls and I LOVE spending time with them.
Steph is also an environmental engi- neer here in Thailand and is  not single ; but her bloke is  back in Perth. Our weekly  meetings usually consist of  cocktails, wine and a new  restaurant to try. I latest trick is to drive around till some one sees something they feel like….stop and eat. Living in  Thailand., that food looses its  novelty a little (especially  after the run in with the  chicken anus….not again)

Work:
Well, as you can imagine.  Work is going well and is  CRAZY CRAZY all the time, I  now have 3 titles:

1. HSE Team Leader

2. SHEQ Manager

3. HR administrator

All very different and all ex- tremely demanding. I am really  loving it though and enjoy  being constantly inundated  with questions. I recently got a  PA, her and I have hit nit off  10 love. She is great. Thai girl  called Kookai. I have started  spending quiet a bit of time ith her over the weekends and meeting some other  Thai people (before it was  more like the expats club)  which means the more  English she learns and the more Thai I learn.

CAR-MA:
As some of you may know; I have the WORST luck  sometimes and especially with rental cars. This  time; in my adorable brand new Honda  Jazz...wolverine decided to have a go at it while I  was at the night market in south Pattaya…..thanks  dude! Clearly I had parked somewhere I thought  was sensible but someone else  thought not and keyed  the side so badly the  wrote my little car  off….great (which  is lucky consider- ing I had just  before that  reversed into  a  truck...oops….

SPORT AND FUN!

Things in the sporting are going much better. Out here  in Pattaya; it is very hard to  find a sport to stick to…so  sticking to true Nicola fashion, netball and touch rugby  have been the way to go. In   regards to netball….well; this  very Photo ended up in our  local English expat magazine  to try and get new players J  On the touch rugby side of  things I was happily playing  along when I dislocated my  ankle. I didn’t even know one  could do that!! But the guys  on the team were very nice  and I went straight to the hospital where it turned out I tore some ligaments and what not…silly me. Although I did  cautiously string my first sen- tence together when someone  asked me what had happened….and I answered…” my  sad not well painful is sad foot  is very-very”. Classic.






GENERAL STUFF

Well; In general things are going well; its hard to move around now with a cast; and  showering is difficult and  rather tricky bur at least im  getting fit doing it :) I cant  for the 3 weeks to be up to  hit the streets jogging and  netball and rugby once more!  As some of you may or may  not know; I'm not only studying Thai reading and writing  but I am also now studding  Buddhism,….its fascinating  and wonderful and has  really given me some amazing insight into compassion  and kindness towards fellow  man. I really have found a fit  in and and cant stop reading enough about it. I still have  a lot to learn and a lot to  take in. In my car now hangs Pooang Malai, which are  wreaths of Jasmine and  roses which symbolize the  impermanence of life.

QUIRKY THAILAND!
Well; as you can imagine; Thailand has many a difference to the African state of Rebulique Afrique De Suid….and have ordered Kookai to immediately watch “Blood Diamond”  to see what really happens down in  RSA. Although some pearlers you  may enjoy are: The color black in  Thai…..See–Dum? There is a delight- ful bar featured to the right. Some  other classics are the fact the your  car; does NOT come equipped with a  heater (Bottom right) ; only cold anf  FREZZING! Yes it is that hot here. Learning Thai has really helped me undertand why sometimes sentences  are so “Deer-makaar” Like I was one  evening out with a delightful friend  and Auditor at a 6 star Restaurant;  and we asked for the Lobster and the  answer was “ Sorry, no lobster to- night, it is not working, It is out of  order”……..

Another couple of word conundrums are; Flow. Some  how...Thai’s can say low but  the minute you put that F in  front in becomes Frow. The  other thing that seems to be  a mystery not only to myself  but to the Thais themselves is  time. To tell time it phased  into 5 phases. Midnight,  dawn, dusk, Day and Night.  Although depending on who is  telling time is what type of ime you may get. Like 4 pm is to early for  dusk but to late for day  so can be either “ Day  4 time” or “4 Time  Dusk” ??? Very confusing and  extremely difficult. A couple  other words that have stuck
out to me have been Panty = Map. Maak-Maak = very very.
They also have the equivalent  for the Alphabet  Song….although there are like  44 Consonants and 36 vow- els and each combination has  5 tones. Not an easy Song to  sing…..

SEX LIES AND PATTAYA

In Pattaya you are bound to see and find ANYTHING with  regards to sex. Its freely avail- able on the streets day-in and  day-out. On a night out you  are seriously bound to see the  STRANGEST things! Pattaya s  “disturbingly” eventful….and  every second Thai bloke is a  “Lady”….even the bloke/bird  at my local 7/11 is tricky to  tell weather it’s a man or woman….the boobs give you  an indication but the facial  hair throws you….There are a lot of forign men  that come here seeking a little “Thai-loving” Men, us  normal single girls have  named “offenders” because  they are SO GROSS! Above  right is a woman; below...a  man….and below that..an  OFFENDER!