First Impressions

Hello everyone..

We've been in Thailand for three days and are two days into our TEFL course (that's Teaching English as Foreign Language by the way) so life's been pretty hectic! We've even had homework already, and our first exam is TOMORROW!! So much for basking in the sun on a beautiful Thai beach! We'll be here in Phuket for the next 4 weeks doing the TEFL course, which is pretty intensive as you might have already guessed, but we're looking forward to it. The weather is great (hot and mainly sunny), we're n Patong which is very tourist-oriented so there's plenty to do and it looks like we'll be staying in an apartment in the hills overlooking Patong Bay, photos will follow shortly to elicit even more jealously frm our beloved friends..
So, I here you cry, what is life in Thailand like? So far it seems full of unfamiliar noises, smells, customs and language. But then there's enough Irish pubs, german guesthouses and italian (and belgan!) restaurants to make it feel familiar too.. And the locals are friendly, the thai food is (unsurprisingly) great and we've got a Buddhist Vegetarian Festival to look forward to next week which involves people piercing their skin live and walking on fire.. Hopefully we'll be delving deeper into Thailand at some point soon but for the moment we've got our plates full with the course, settling into Patong and exploring the rest of the island starting this weekend!
We'll be updating this regularly, you might even be lucky enough to get photos next time! Missing you all.. Matt and Meli
oh, and in case anyone's wondering Matt saw his first ladyboy yesterday.. I have yet to be so lucky!