Farangs travel to Lanna (the North)

After being told that it was against some kind of Thai labor law to make anyone move my 88 lbs of luggage onto a plane, I did some negotiating, rearranged a few things, dished out 500 baht and rewarded myself for a job well done with a little Burger King.

I don’t know the last time I had BK. It may or may not have been in Mexico.

After a short, pleasant plane ride we landed in Chiang Mai, the San Francisco of Thailand. If Thailand were California.

Some people get this comparison. Others blink a lot and nod slowly.

I've included a map. If this doesn't help, just move on. And face the fact that you're not very bright.

Basically, Chiang Mai is the cooler, hipper, northern alternative to Bangkok. In my opinion, a superior alternative.

We were met by an entourage of Thai teachers from HangChat to welcome us into our new positions. It was adorable, and really hasn’t stopped. I mean, it’s like we’re Brad and Angelina over here. At least on school grounds.

The people in Lampang and HangChat are extremely friendly – especially the school staff. Alex, our coordinator, and Pan, who’s taken it upon herself to be our caretaker, are a couple of blessings in a sea of mosquitoes. And ants. And screaming kids. They cart us around, feed us, take us on field trips and generally act as our parents in Thailand.

Alex is our official contact and the head of the English department at school. Annnnd, he’s super cool and hilarious. He’s totally fluent in English and makes dirty jokes. He explained to me that the herbs served with lunch are to boost my sex drive, and explained that under no circumstances does he serve them to his wife. This is just one of many examples.

Sawatdee ka, Alex.

Pan is my conservative mother figure – she’s super sweet, if not a little overbearing at times. So far so good, I’ve dodged her disapproving glances well. She sort of reminds me of my Mexican host mother. She likes to hold my hand while we’re shopping, I’m thinking to show me off? I’m like a doll, I suppose. But she feeds me and buys me coffee, so I’m ok with it.

I think she understood that she was becoming the “uncool” teacher, because the last time she took us out, I got a little wasted. On daiquiris. Yay rum!


Sawatdee ka, Pan.

The rest of the staff is equally amazing – Noi, Took and Ning.

Took is actually the “madame” of the city, meaning she’s a beauty queen who managed to snag the city sheriff. Yup, that’s right. Sheriff. They use that word. So whenever they refer to the madame and the sheriff, we can’t do anything to hold back the giggles. Unfortunately,
the two of them got transferred back to Chiang Mai, and there was a big party in their honor. And they wore cowboy outfits. Amazing.

The other two are sweet hearts, although much more quiet. Then there are there are the teachers outside of the English department, whose names I can never remember, who like to poke and me and take pictures with me.

More on these characters to come. I'm sure of it.