Holy fruits and vegetables!

It's Registered Dietitian's Day!

I know, you are all as excited as I am about this. I sit here in Thailand, looking to the western sky, wondering how each of you will celebrate the day.  How I wish I was there to fill your day and plates with fresh tropical fruits, vegetables, some grilled meats/seafood, roasted nuts, and such. And yes, just enough spice to put a Thai smile on your face.

I just bought some watermelon, so good!

Tea Time

Saturday! Jump out of bed. Apply sunscreen. Find motorbike. Rent motorbike, 200 baht/24 hours. Off we went, me, Susan, the British lad (Alex), Rachel, Katie (2 girls that teach in Thailand).  We set out for the mountains, Doi Mae Salong region.  'Excited' doesn't even begin to describe my feelings.  Riding without a real destination or plan is kinda fun. I guess I would call it operation, I have a crush on life.  As we drove out of the city..beauty took over.  The scape was filled with mountains, hills, and a beautiful green.  I rode on the back of a motorbike to take in the beauty.  Safer this way.  What did I see?

I saw water-buffalo bathing in the streams, lush green rice patty's, farmers working with straw hats, banana trees, villages, I could go on forever.  Then we began to slowing increase in elevation.  The roads started curving and my ears started popping.  I would say that I am pretty open and carefree with heights, but there was one hill in particular that was so steep, I was certain gravity was going to give me a beat-down.  We made it half way up and I jumped off, due to uncertainty and the value of my time to be spent over the upcoming year.

After a couple hours in, we were high in tea country. Home to a  large Chinese settlement, in addition to various hill tribes.  I hope to explore the culture more in this blog, so long as I am up north.  In brief, these groups reside in Northern Thailand, and along the Thai borders of Myanmar and Laos.  They originally inhabited regions of Tibet, China, and Yunnan. The tribes can be broken down in to subcultures; Akha, Lahu, Hmong (familiar to those in Sheboygan, WI area), Yao, Lisu. They are are easily recognizable by their hand woven fabrics, shoes, and silver embellishments. Beautiful people, beautiful culture.  As we traveled through the hillsides, village to village, from observation they appear to be more subsistence farmers.  Now that April is approaching, the land is being worked.  Already started is the traditional slash-and-burn.  For about the next month and half or so, I am told that there will be considerable smog around Chiang Rai.  I suspect more people will be wearing masks.

For lunch we had food at a cafe along the roadside.  I ordered green curry with chicken with  2 roti, partially because they were out of most of the menu items.  Roti is a type of Indian bread, light and flaky.  A great curry, I was impressed.  Just the right amount of spice, great flavors. If I were to guess, the curry contained: eggplant, carrots, chicken, basil, chilies, coconut milk, curry paste, and likely other spices, perhaps even fish sauce.   The overlook from the eatery was giant rolling hills, lush trees, tea terraces, and beautiful skyline.  After eating, we walked around the small village.  As we walked I would see elderly individuals sitting outside in the shade observing those passing by.  The streets were narrow, and shops/housing were small.  Tea leaves were laid out on the sidewalks to dry in the hot sun.

 Care for a spot of tea?

We walked up a street to find some real Thai grown green tea.  This was quite the experience.  Interesting steeping technique, the young girl that assisted us was very particular about how the teas was steeped and served.  We all sample the tea, complimentary.  A neat experience that I would love to share with you.  Then on, we continued to venture on, seeing small villages, tropical scenery, agriculture, tea fields, lush forest, cute kids waving, and wisps of burned debris. 

 Oolong green tea

 

 Oolong green tea

 

 

 Left: Tea is ready to drink. The tea is vacuumed inside the ceramic cup. Right: Tea is ready for sipping.  If steeped appropriately, green tea has a handful of nutritive properties: vitamins (C & B's) and minerals, antioxidants (polyphenols).  We have commonly heard they hype of green tea and research saying it may help with chronic disease, ie hypertension and cardiovascular disease.  In addition, research has also found potential for preventing various forms of cancer.  All in all, moderation is best.  Green tea research is being looked at for means beyond the beverage, such as in lotions, ointments, shampoos, and more. 

I am told that tea was only introduced to Thailand about 60 years ago, with a strong push to replace the opium crop.  The tea was brought by Chinese settlers/merchants that arrived via ship near Chonburi and Rayong (SE coast).  Varieties typical to Taiwan were initiated as crop. Common teas in Northern Thailand include: Oolong, white, green, and black. Thailand as a country is better known for its Thai-iced teas.  Thai iced teas are sold all over, street vendors, coffee houses, and restaurants.  The ceylon teas is the original tea used, but can be expensive.  Other teas may be used in its place.  The tea is typically flavored with star anise, sometimes tamarind or orange blossom water.  You may taste other spices in some of the teas as well.  The tea is then mixed with sugar or condensed milk, tossed with some ice, then topped with evaporated milk.  I see them served from tall, clear plastic cups or in plastic bags with a straw.  A similar concept is used with the iced-coffees.

If you are curious about the tea foodsystem, check out this great piece, Development of the tea industry in Thailand.  It was written in Chiang Rai 2008, affiliated with Asian Journal of Food and Agro-Industry.

Now, hop on the back! Ready to see Doi Mae Salong? 

View in Doi Mae Salong - papaya tree

 Wat Santifkhiri - can be see from afar. Is found at the peak height of the mountains.

 View from Wat Santifkhiri

 Beautiful overlook from Wat Santifkhiri

 Tea crop

Swerving left and right, down and around, the warm sun felt as amazing as the cool undertones of the low valleys.  The wind blowing through the air, the sunny sky filled with giant marshmallow clouds and the breath-taking views was perfect. I have mentally saved this experience for that day when I am gray..after a full day of work on Nick and my, alpaca (and one llama) and rhubarb farm (shh, he doesn't know about this yet). And dad, yes, I was on the look for asparagus, I had no luck.

If you didn't quite get your fill, check out some of these: Doi Mae Salong - 2.

Poutine on the shoes

While my past week was filled with job hunting and nutrition-related searching, I thought you might be interested in hearing a little about my favorite parts. What are the odds of me talking about food and adventure?

Last week us ladies went out for some Wednesday night bowling. I can now say that I have bowled in Thailand.  Ahem, "I have bowled in Thailand." - hmm, somewhat less impressive than I thought it would be.  So, yes, I had to rent shoes.  The lady had me place my foot on a sizing-mat to guess my shoe size.  She took a glance and scampered to the back.  She brought me some dashing, blue and silver chromed Velcro-strapped shoes, worn by at least 1,888 people with size 8 feet. I wear a size 9-9.5.  I crammed my feet in and thought, thank you mom for the gift of determination. Now if I can just pull that Velcro strap over - Success! Then.. my feet started screaming. Ok, so I go back and tell the cute Thai gal with size 4.5 feet that, "these are too small." She runs to the back before I finish my sentence.  She comes out and she and her co-worker smile at me from behind the counter; the one kindly hands me my new shoes to try on.  I try them on, as if I were Cinderella's evil stepsister. By trying them on, I mean I crammed and smashed my feet into the Velcro-strapped torture devices. By the miracle of Buddha, Velcro strapped in. Nope, that's not going to work - she gave me perhaps.. a size 7 shoe. I looked up at her and I said 'bigger,please' using my hands.  The two girls look at each other and giggled. Clearly a language barrier, ha.  She then brings me some baby pink and white saddle shoes. Fit like a glove. Now, those shoes weren't made for walking, they were made for dancing. I will leave that to your imagination.. crazy whitegirl on a frictionless surface, carrying an 11 lbs bowling ball. Just know that I won my game.  Conclusion,120 baht decently spent.

What's this foodie been up to you ask? One day for lunch I ventured out into the fresh markets near my stay.  To give you and idea of what this looks like, several fruit/vegetable stands..one after another, mostly beautiful and colorful fruit.  I usually take some time to get the best deal.  But I had a phone date with a cute boys so I had to speed up the indecisiveness and bargaining.  I made eye-contact with this pleasant Thai women.  She greeted me with a big smile.  I asked her in Thai, 'how much.' She said, 40 baht. No reason to bargain.  This was a good deal.  This is actually a lot of fruit.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  This lasted several meals.  Fruit includes: a giant wedge of watermelon (mmm) dragon fruit (so good), orange, mango, honeydew (perfect, I don't usually even care for it), apple, and a crisp white fruit (not sure what this was, looks like a peeled potato) - seen under the mango in the lower left corner.  The fruit was delicious overall.  I disliked the mango, not sure why - had an odd taste.  The apple was bland, but crisp.  I was excited to try the apple though, as there is only one type available here as far as I have noticed and I don't typically try fruits that have peels, no way to wash it properly.  I am eager to try some grapes, but I am not feeling adventurous enough yet.

One night, I went a little crazy at a coffee shop, Doi Chaang and purchased non-Thai food.  I am sucker for hummus. Too my defense, this place was one of the top ten small-medium businesses, awarded by the UN in a business conference. I ordered felafel, with pita bread, and warmed hummus topped with sesame seeds - 120 baht.  This was a nice treat.  The felafel was a bit dry for my liking, but who am I to complain, I am eating Middle-Eastern cuisine in Thailand!  I tried some of my friend's drinks. Mel ordered an iced-coffee, so good - one of my favorite places for it.  Susan had me try her banana-chocolate smoothie, yum. We actually loved the place so much we went there the next night.  I ordered a vegetable panini, it was so good.  I don't know that I have ever had a sandwich with broccoli on it (along with several other vegetables, some cheese), but it was amazing - I splashed it with some chili. Cost, 100 baht. We met up  with some friends we made at out hostel that evening for supper.  They were two guys that also met each other traveling solo.  One guy was teaching in Seoul, Korea and the other a Brit traveling through Asia Dec '12-present with a destination of Australia in the fall.  It was nice visiting with them about their travels.  Even better was the fact that they were NOT the stereotypical, immature lads in search of inebriation and loud music.  But to be honest, I don't see as many farangs as I thought I would, perhaps I am avoiding their hangouts.  If you want to find farangs, rule of thumb, you go to bars, pizza places, Italian places, coffee shops, or AC buildings.

One afternoon last week, after my interview, I had lunch at Connect Cafe, I love the ladies that work there,  they are so sweet. And I needed internet access.  I ordered sweet-sour vegetable and tofu stir-fry.  This was really good, and they know how to cook tofu.  The dish was colorful, containing tomatoes, pineapple, carrots, onions, cucumber, and green pepper.  On the side, whole grain rice medley, with a Thai garnish salad of lettuce, carrots, and cabbage.  One I spiked the dish with some fresh black pepper, all was good. A bit sweet, with the pineapple, but not bad at all. Cost, 99 baht.

Friday made its way to me, I welcomed it and the weekend that followed. What do I have for you that's going to keep you reading? Alright, so there's a.. Brit, a Canadian, an Aussie, an Ohio-an, 2 Thai's, and 4 American gals.  We visited in the lobby talking about our travels.  Then there was me asking about food.  The two Thai guys love music and always listen to it in the evenings (while working at the hostel). And by working, I mean smiling, enjoying some beers, dancing, and ordering snacks off the vender carts circling the night streets. They allowed us all to try some of the food and wouldn't take any money for it.  The first vender they tracked down was a fried donut vendor.  The donuts looked like fried break in the shape of an 'H.' I tried a bite, not my thing. The others enjoyed the treat.  The next vendor went by. You will see the sale in the picture above.  Fried squid with a spicy sauce.  I tried the squid, it was actually really good. The sauce was especially amazing, it had spices and nuts in it.  I would like to know the recipe.  The strips you see on the right are also squid.  There isn't a lot of fishy-taste, more of a mild seafood scent.  The strips were good, especially in the sauce. Something that I probably wouldn't have thought to try on my own.   You commonly see these types of strips in the 711s, packaged up.  You can find flavors such as shrimp, lobster, fish, cuttlefish, etc., I haven't tried them but guessing they are similar to the above, enhanced with salt and oils.  I would describe this as cheap snack food, low nutritional value.

As I visited with the Canadian, originally from Quebec, we started talking about popular foods.  He told me about the traditional fast food in that area.  He said, Poutine, was quite popular.  I asked him to tell me more.  Poutine is fries with a barbecue type of sauce, topped with cheese.  Me coming from the land of cheese, had to know what type of cheese. You never know this could be a trivia question someday. He said, I don't know what kind of cheese it is, its like cheese nuggets.  I knew right then he was describing cheese curds.  What a dish.  I then began to think that this dish mush exist in WI, how had I not heard of this before? Crazy.  As a dietitian, I don't suggest you indulge in this dish, but you should certainly try it.

Sidenote: I sent a picture of Poutine/Putin from a website to Nick and my twin, to see if they could pick up the cheese curd in the dish.  Amanda responded like I thought she would, it's a twin thing. Nick, you make me smile - I love how your mind works.  I think you are learning more than either of us anticipated. Did I mention you make me smile? ..everyday.

The evening led on.  I talked with the Aussie man for a while.  If I were to guess I would say that he was in his 40s.  He was telling me that he was just coming from a meditation retreat at New Life Foundation, 20 minutes from Chiang Rai via car.  He said that the foundation was for those recovering from alcohol or substance abuse, or those wishing to explore the dynamics of meditation/yoga.  He said that he was there for a month, part of the time as a volunteer.  I was fascinated by his experience.  I love that I have the opportunity to meet some quality and cultured passerby's. 

And then there was my weekend..

The Hunt

Sawadee, ka!. Just thought I'd fill you in with some of my past week.  I try to fill all of you in with the adventurous side, more than my studious side.  For a majority of the day time, I have been exploring Chiang Rai, job searching, and hunting new job options that relate to nutrition/health.  On Tuesday, I applied to a job in southern Thailand for a health/sport English educator.  I actually discovered this job on Craig's List.  Not only should you be careful using Craig's List in the US, but also overseas.  There are actually warnings on the site from people warning against individuals or agencies that are requesting that applicants send copies of their diplomas, passport IDs, etc.  I dove deeper than the ad before I even considered sending in my personal information.  I looked up the school.  Sure enough there were several job postings for the school on the school's homepage, with good ratings.  The school seemed to be what I am looking for.  Additionally, with benefits that I haven't seen in other schools. This caught me attention, I applied. 

I contacted the school by emailing them a cover letter detailing my job experiences and reasons for interest in the position.  In the email I also attached a copy of my passport and my resume, required for the application. Just to give you an idea of how this may differ from the US process of applying for jobs, in Asia you are to provide: age, date of birth, gender, marital status, and a current photo of yourself.  In my application to Nestle, I was asked to provide my religious affiliation.  As far as the job postings go you may see statements such as: must be 21 or older, 24 or older, under 40 years of age, 40 years or older (seldom..more for university specialty level), female only, bachelor's degree (nearly all), native English speaker (all), a native English speaker from US, Australia, South Africa, Britain, or New Zealand (often), BA major in English or linguistics (for upper-level English learners), any teaching experience 2+ years (occasionally), etc.  It certainly reminds me that I am not in America. 

After sending in my application, I received an email Wednesday.  The email stated that the job position, health/sports English educator was possibly filled but that there were openings in the Early Learner's program.  With that being said, the email stated that if I was still interested I should fill out and return a questionnaire, along with a lesson plan for 25, 5-6 year olds, teaching multiple disciplines in a 50 minute period. The theme in of the lesson, "our city," intentionally meant to be vague.  So not exactly what I thought I would be doing, but the age group in my opinion would be fun and challenging.  By the evening I sent a lesson plan, feeling confident that it would at least appease my favorite 6 years old! The questionnaire asked questions such as: What sports do you play? What would your classroom look and sound like? Would you feel comfortable in a Christian school? What makes this job position/location appealing to you? Can you teach 20, 2 year old students? The email also asked for a time that I could set up a Skype interview.

Thursday I had my Skype interview, as I sat on an outdoor patio.  I interviewed with a male, I believe he was European or American. He asked me several questions such as: Where have you been in Thailand? What makes you interested in this job/location? Can you drive a motorbike? What is your experience with teaching children? Do you have friends applying for this position? Would you be comfortable if parents came to watch you teach? Are you currently looking at other schools/job positions? What are your food allergies? ... Overall I felt good with all of my answers.  He told me that my resume looked professional and that he liked my responses in the questionnaire I sent him.

Additionally we has some good conversation.  He was detailing the local environment to which I would be working. He said that the areas in welcoming to individuals that can handle, fresh air, natural elements, caves, water, hiking, lack of urbanization, lack of grocery stores, no malls, no movie theaters, no tuk tuk services, and hot weather. In my mind as he is saying this I could feel myself getting really excited - even though I already researched the area and had a fair idea as to what I was getting myself into.  He saw that I went to SDSU and asked if I was native to SD.  He went on to tell me that he has two current teachers from SD working in the school.  That surprised me.  He said that they are both male, one is from the Badlands, a long-time teacher who is leaving the school to return to SD. This seemed so crazy to me.  Moving on, we went over specifics with the job, work visa questions, contracts, teaching periods, etc.  To conclude the interview I was told that I may Skype or call with any further questions, that the interview was a pleasure, and that I should be hearing from them by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. There may be another potential interview with the head director for the school. I will see what happens.

Overall, there are certainly many jobs available, new posts daily.  I would guess that about 80% of the jobs are for Bangkok.  Bangkok, I would like to see, but don't want it to be a destination.  In Thailand, school breaks typically occur in April and October.  With that being said some schools run 5-5.5 days a week.  Some have summer camps or go all year.  Most of the schools and universities restart in mid-late April or early May. 

As of today all three of my friends have jobs. They all want to stay in the Chiang Rai area.  Hannah and Mel both have jobs at a teaching young kids in a Montessori, they started teaching today. Susan got her job today teaching 7-12 year olds at a Catholic school and starts in 2 weeks during the summer camps.  Let's just see what happens next..