Kickin' Ko Samet

Are there any words needed for this? Clear turquoise water, soft white sand and a seaside restaurant ready to provide you with whatever food at your every whim (soft shell crab curry anyone?), all without a 1st grader in sight! Ummm...yes please! That was my long weekend - lounging at Sametville Resort (complete with a private beach!) on lovely Koh Samet island. This is why everyone comes to Thailand people - the beaches are unlike any I have ever seen. Can you blame a girl for not wanting to leave this place with its perfectly sunny 80 degree weather to go back to Saimai and teach 34 1st graders? I think not!

Since Monday was Constitution Day (I will be honest - I have no idea what that means!) and a day off of school, we packed our brightly colored beach bags, threw on our best swimsuits and headed out in the wee early hours Saturday morning to enjoy the long weekend off. Koh Samet is just a couple hours from Bangkok - so six of us packed into Suzi's boyfriend's Toyota Corolla (yes, six of us!) and drove about 3 hours to Ban Phe, where we caught the 40-minute ferry to our private beach resort! The front of the ferry clearly called for some Titanic-like movie re-creations (before the captain yelled at me in Thai to get off)...

The weekend was everything I needed...and so much more! Along with Suzi, Por (her boyfriend), Joanne, Lauren and Thomas (a new teacher at Sarasas straight up from Brooklyn, NY), I literally spent the entire 3-day weekend lying my formerly pale self on the beach, interspersing the hours with dips into the crystal clear salty water (which, let me say, did wonders for my hair) and lazy walks on the beach, topped off with lots of beachside eating and even a 14-mile marathon training run around the island! It was absolutely glorious (well, except for the bajillion hills on the island - my butt is still sore)!

Many of you may know that one of the very few foods I hate is seafood, but this weekend I became a seafood lover! No lie! Let me tell you, soft shell crab curry may sound absolutely revolting (it did to me initially!), but it is hands-down one of the best dishes I have had in Thailand. But not only did I eat soft shell crab, squid & basil with jasmine rice and lots of shrimp, but I even went fishing along the rocky bays and caught a squid! Here is Thomas, Lauren and I lounging beachside on the giant swing!

The resort was filled with people from all over the world - including a group of 6 overweight (I am being kind here...) men sporting banana hammocks, better known as the Speedo! They were lots of fun and from Europe of course - one even called me madame! We also met a half-Thai, half-Indian friend. Her name was Cherry, and she was 5 years old but very mature for her age. The stars numbered in the thousands at night, the bugs were out in full force (I have NEVER had such bug-bitten legs!) and like I said, the food was delish! Not to mention...the gorgeous sunrise sitting perfectly on the Gulf of Thailand, seen from a mere 10 feet outside our 2-bedroom villa!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and so we reluctantly left Koh Samet Monday morning to head back for the school week ahead. But...seeing as Pattaya was conveniently right on the way home (remember? The land of ladyboys and go-go bars?), we thought it would only be right to show Thomas the sleaze and cheese that is Pattaya. The best part? I finally got to quell my craving for Indian food - we had lunch at Ali Baba Restaurant, and I had Baingain Bharta - an eggplant curry, which went perfectly with a big slice of garlic naan!

Now, I am back in good ol' Saimai and counting down the days until my next vacation, which is in 9 days! Starting tomorrow, I am also going to tutor Pavin, one of my students and a pelvic-thrusting addict, for a couple hours a week, so I am excited about that too! I forecast some shopping in my future this weekend along with a Christmas party or two and possibly a Bhutanese movie - should be a good one! Take care everyone (especially with all that snow falling in the Midwest), eat lots of Christmas cookies for me and celebrate the season, while I indulge myself in American Christmas music from abroad!