Kicks just keep getting harder to find.

The hottest trend among novice monks here in Ban Phe is flipflip carving. It makes sense, since their clothing is standard-issue saffron robes, that these teenagers would want to show a little bit of originality. Here's a sampling.



I got myself some new kicks yesterday too. I hope they'll take me on a great journey.



There has been a change of plans. I finished my TEFL training today. Goodbye, monastery school.



but the company that brough me over had a falling out with their biggest recruiter, which means that most of my class was not able to get placement at schools in other parts of Thailand. Instead, about 10 or 11 of our 18-person class (including me) are going to stay here in Ban Phe and work at Siam English Training School. There are worse places to live, for sure.



The monkey wrench is that the new positions don't start until early November which means I get a two week vacation. So instead of traveling around Southeast Asia after my teaching is finished (and worrying about where to store my stuff during that time,) I'm leaving my luggage safely at the TEFL school and traveling now. I'm not bringing my laptop, but I hope to visit Internet cafes to keep you up to date. I might not post any pictures. I'm tentatively going to visit Cambodia and maybe Laos, and be back here to start work around November 9th. That date is tentative; this is Thailand.