Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit that I gave in and used an obligatory, pun-tastic blog post title.

For those of you that don't know, wat equals temple in Thai. My recent adventure to Chiang Mai was rife with wats, wats, and more wats. You think I'd be wat-ed out by this point, but it's safe to say that I found each one as utterly stunning as the first in this remarkable city.

I am now happy to announce that I'm a fully qualified TEFL teacher! After woofing down breakfast in a somewhat half-drunken and hungover state (it was an eventful last night on the island, to say the least) we crammed onto our buses and headed to Bangkok. After that eight-hour journey, I was faced with my first big challenge in foreign Thailand: traveling by myself on a Thai bus, headed north to Chiang Mai for another ten-hour, overnight journey. Thankfully, everyone I encountered along my expedition was friendly enough to take pity and help out a poor, pale falang. I arrived in Chiang Mai at the ungodly hour of four am and was greeted by my favorite adventurer, Forest, at Wat Pra Sing (the city's famed temple).

The next five days, without a doubt, have been my most memorable spent in Thailand. Forest took me to Wat Pra Sing, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, another temple located by a waterfall and frequented by one of his Thai students, the Chiang Mai Zoo, and the renowned Sunday night market. Aside from these amazing locales, I must stress how delicious the food was here. When stuck on Ko Chang, it meant being confined to one fixed menu that simply did not do Thai food justice. In Chiang Mai, I sampled delectable gyoza, mango sticky rice, spicy tom yum (which, honestly, my poor palette could not take), thai momma's pad thai, and a vegetarian dish that I still don't know the contents of. It was nice to be led around the city by a seasoned traveler who knew the layout well, and who has also made Thai friends. I was able to converse with a monk at Wat Pra Sing and even teach him a bit of English. I also took great pleasure in laughing and joking with the food stall cooks on Forest's street, who are some of the nicest Thai people I've met thus far.

Doi Suthep

Tranquility at its finest.

Gimme your best cheesy Thai pose!

The hustle and bustle of the Chiang Mai night market.

Mango sticky rice...mmmm!

Veggie delite!

Overall, I felt so completely immersed in the culture when I was in Chiang Mai. The city had a perfect mixture of falangs (foreigners) and local Thai people who were so warm and welcoming. I can honestly see why so many people flock here to live and work. Best of all, everything was so cheap.

Now, I'm finishing up my orientation in Bangkok (when I'm going to stop frequenting this maddening city, I will never know). On Tuesday, I head to my placement in...dun dun duuuuuuun... Sakon Nakhon! It is a city in northeastern Thailand, located by Laos and Vietnam. Initially, all I knew about SN was that it was renowned for its locals eating dog. Thankfully I was able to talk to a teacher at my orientation who just finished his semester at the same school I will be teaching at. He could not stop gushing about SN, regaling that the people are friendly and our school is the best one in the Northeastern region of Thailand. This means more access to resources and modernized technology in the classroom. He said that because the school is the finest in the area, the students are very eager to learn and already know an advanced level of English (score!). Starting November 6th, I will be teaching 14-18 year olds ECD English, which stands for English Communicative Development. I will essentially be responsible for teaching Thai teenagers listening and speaking of conversational English.

I am so excited to get settled in Sakon Nakhon and finally have a place to call home. Although I've absolutely loved traveling for the past month and a half, I'm getting weary of living out of my suitcase and being sleep-deprived.

Bring on the next big adventure and my first real job!