So aside from taking lots of great pictures, I have been keeping busy with things and thought I would do a picture-less blog to update you on things. So Thai language is going well. As a matter of fact I had to speak in Thai only for 45 minutes on a video camera. I was amazed I was able to do it. I have had approximately 100 lessons and am about to buy another set of 50 lessons. I really enjoy my language class and love my teacher. I was able to experience another teacher one day when mine was out and I now appreciate my teacher even more!
Approximately 3 weeks ago I decided to get a gym membership. We do have a gym in our building but it is quite small and for some reason I just cannot get myself motivated to go to it. I finally decided to get the membership and to look into hiring a personal trainer as I heard they were MUCH cheaper here. I have been wanting to get myself into better shape and figure when else am I going to have this opportunity to do so – I am not working, have plenty of time for the gym and can actually afford a personal trainer. So along with my gym membership I got a 100-session package with a personal trainer. My friend also goes to this same gym and recommended her trainer, Khun Mike, to me. I really enjoy my sessions with Khun Mike, as he talks to me during my sessions and it distracts me from the monotony of working out! Khun Mike has many questions about America and really wants to live there one day, along with Australia and England – just one year in each location and then he wants to come home to Bangkok. He is a 24-year old kid, has a college degree in fitness education and is certified to teach in any sport in Thailand. He is very knowledgeable and his English is very good. I sometimes practice my Thai with him too. Most of the other trainers in the gym do not speak English but they are very curious about the American girl and always want to talk to me so Khun Mike translates if I don’t understand. Some I can understand if they speak slowly and are just asking basic questions that any beginner Thai student would understand. If I respond to them in Thai they smile so big and laugh so hard. I am not sure if they are just happy I am trying to learn their language or if they are laughing because I am completely butchering it. I don’t think I am butchering it because they can at least understand me! My work out with Khun Mike lasts approximately 2.5 hours and I go three days a week. I also bought 100 sessions of Thai boxing so one hour of that is dedicated to Thai boxing. I never thought I’d do boxing of any sort but I must say it is tons of fun. Apparently I have a really strong hook as I managed to badly bruise one of the other trainers one day. Khun Mike had to step out of the ring for a few minutes and so his colleague took over and the next day he showed me his bruises – I couldn’t believe I did it and thought he was pulling my leg at first and then finally I was apologetic and he laughed and said Mai bpen rai! This means It’s okay! I do my gym workout the same day as my language so three days a week for me are completely shot as I am booked from about 9am until about 6pm. I keep Tuesdays and Fridays open and sometimes go on tours with the American Women’s Club.
One week after joining the gym, I got to experience my first appointment at our med unit here at the embassy. The first words out of the doctor’s mouth were that I was obese. She later asked how tall I was and then she decided I didn’t need to lose as much weight as she thought and it wasn’t so bad after all. I told her I had joined the gym and was working with a personal trainer – she said that I should drop 30 lbs in no time if I keep up with this routine and a 30 lb weight loss would make her happy. I do hope she is right, as losing 30 lbs would be nice. Khun Mike says my numbers will fluctuate the first month or so. He is right so far. I do feel as though I am losing inches and I can feel my abdomen getting tighter/firmer. My weight has not changed too much though. It went up the first week but he said that was muscle and then it finally went down this past week. He has not weighed me this week – he said it will probably go up again.
I also got to experience my first mammogram here with a Thai doctor at a Thai hospital. It was not so bad though I am glad I had some knowledge going into it of what to look for on the ultrasound screen. Most of you know I had breast surgery last spring to remove a fibrocystic lump (non cancerous) that was the size of a baked potato. So once you get one, you are prone to getting more. Several weeks ago I received a notice from the hospital where I had the surgery that I am required to do a 6-month post surgery follow up mammogram. So I scheduled it here and low and behold they found 5 more cysts. I asked the lady, are they benign and she said nothing. Normally this would send me into a fit of panic, but I realized maybe she doesn’t understand the word benign. So then I asked, are they cancerous? She responds no, I think no cancer, I think clear. I think is not something you want to hear when discussing the possibility of cancer but you have to remember the language issue and take it all in stride. Meanwhile I am watching the ultrasound screen like a hawk and can see for myself that the cysts appear on the screen black with NO other color. I learned in going through this before that if they are black then they are non-cancerous and just fluid filled sacs and if they have color then you have a problem! So luckily, they were all black. Yay! They don’t hurt this time around so they won’t do anything with them. The doctor at the med unit called me the next day about them and said that if they start hurting then to come back in and they would aspirate them. She also told me, “You know if you get pregnant they will likely go away.” Hmmmmm, was that a hint? The doctor at the med unit did a full physical on me and all checked out well except my cholesterol – no surprise there – thanks Mom and Dad – love having that high cholesterol gene! Back in January when I went through my medical to come here my cholesterol was 268 but they did not want to put me on medicine as they thought I was too young to do the meds and said to try to diet and exercise. So that is what I have been trying to do. My diet has changed drastically since coming here and I am getting more exercise every day with all the walking around I do. So this go round my cholesterol was 234. Both times I was told my good cholesterol was really high which is really good. So I am happy to hear I got that down and I hope with time it continues to go down – especially now that I am doing the gym 3 days a week!
So the week after all the medical stuff, I got an email from the embassy saying they had a part-time slot open and they wanted me to interview for it. I went into the embassy and got the details on the job. It is a basic admin job and after asking a lot of questions I found out that all the spousal part-time jobs are admin related. So this is as good as it’s going to get. The job is nearly full time though – 32 hours/4 days a week. I was hoping for a job 3 days per week. So I decided to interview for it because you never know how long it will be before another opportunity arises like this. So I interviewed and low and behold I got the job. They interviewed 6 other spouses, which I heard was a lot. I am very lucky to have gotten this job so quickly as most spouses are on the wait list for work for a year or more. I have mixed feelings about this though. While I am very overjoyed at the opportunity to double our income and save more as well as the retirement bennies (the best part really), I am also sad to be seeing all my free time go by the wayside. I was really getting used to not working. Even more so, I was enjoying the opportunity to learn the language and get my butt back into shape. So I decided to work Monday thru Thursday and then have every Friday off. My Thai language I will now only do one day a week – Friday mornings. My work out sessions I am not willing to give up though and am going to do my best to keep up with them in the evenings. So two nights a week I will go to the gym after work and then I’ll also go on Friday afternoons. It seems like everything always happens at once and I never really have good timing. At the same time as all this was happening I was asked to volunteer to be on the activities committee with the American Women’s Club – and specifically to plan events in the evenings and on the weekends for the working women in Bangkok. Right now the club only caters to those not working as all their activities are during the day Monday thru Friday. This is something that I really wish I could assist on as I know there are many working women in Bangkok that are disappointed the club is not inclusive of them. Now that I am going to be one of those working women, this issue impacts me as well. But with work, the gym and Thai now, there is no way I would ever have time to be in charge of this. I am hoping they find someone else to take on this responsibility!
So I start work on October 13th, which is a Tuesday as Monday is an American Holiday. I’m looking forward to my new role here though. Before accepting the job I cleared all my travel plans with them. I told them Joe and I would be going out of town to Ko Tao for our Anniversary October 16 to 20 and that a friend is visiting from America the first two weeks of November and I would go with him to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat for a long weekend. They were okay with both trips. I then dropped the bomb that I would be going back to Maryland for one month in January to attend my best friend, Katrina’s, wedding. I’m sure this was not the ideal situation for them but they agreed to it up front. If they had not, I probably would have passed on the job and waited for the next one to come open AFTER my trip home. I’m sad that during our friend John’s visit here I will not get to act as his official tour guide but am hoping to maybe adjust my hours some during his stay if they let me so I can get off work earlier and maybe spend some time with him visiting the sights. The sad news is that Joe is going to totally miss out on his friend John’s visit as he is scheduled to travel during that time. He’ll probably be here the last few days John is here and that is it.
Anywho, that is all that is new and exciting in my life right now. Hope all is well with everyone else!
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