Shelli and Kate have reached the limit of time they can spend together. Craig is told Asians should have tougher skin by a Thai guy. Jim learns not to say the wrong thing to Brandon unless he wants his butt grabbed. And the group stumbles into a nest of gays at their beach… making the previous sentence even more awkward, but Craig’s second day straight of getting hit on by guys even more funny. Oh… and emotions are mixed as Christmas Day arrives in paradise.
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Merry Christmas everyone!
Sitting on a tropical beach makes one forget what day it is. During the past few days, we’ve had to remind ourselves of the season because it just hasn’t felt like it should be Christmas day. In that spirit, I’ve prepared a short video about what it feels like to be not so close to home on Christmas Day.
Today started off early when I met a Thai woman who lives in Essex. It was weird to see someone that could completely blend in with the locals, but whose accent stuck out like a sore thumb. She was visiting relatives while on holiday and enjoying the warmer weather they weren’t currently experiencing in the UK. All I could think was that she was missing part 1 of the Doctor Who Christmas Special.
Soon it was placed on the boys to find new shelter as the place we stayed at the night before was total crap. I’m sorry… I’m a bit irritable as I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Craig and I got into a blanket war and the noise right outside our door was not pleasant. When in Ko Samet… beware the “Sea Breeze”.
Anyway, after about 20 minutes of searching, we found a place that had only been open about 3 weeks old. It wasn’t on any map, nor was it in any tour guide. I don’t even know if this place had a name yet. It was nice, save for no A/C, but the nights wouldn’t be so bad with just a fan.
We got the Kate and Shelli and soon headed to the beach. They gave us our gifts (Santa hats) and we had a local woman take our picture.
I think this will be our Christmas card for next year
While everyone else laid out on the beach and swam, I decided to do a little exploring. It’s not that I don’t like the beach, but I’ve had an aversion to salt water since I got a mouthful as a kid and sand getting everywhere is not my idea of comfort. I mean, I keep a towel next to my bed to make sure I don’t bring any to bed with me. I found a cool stretch of rocky shoreline and hung out there for a while and read.
Lounging with a view of the ocean!
It also helped me get away from some of the more interesting “sights” that were to be seen there. By “sights”, I mean the very European feeling of clothing optional beach activites… such as one older woman we referred to as “Grandma” who was as dark as George Hamilton, could stand to gain a few pounds (even bronzed rib cages aren’t very attractive) and needed help finding the missing top from her ever changing two piece bathing suits (she changed them 3 times a day and we didn’t see a repeat for 5 days).
Grandma
We grabbed some lunch and got my usual Thai meal: Green Curry and (insert favorite meat) with rice. I ordered a strawberry shake and it was TO DIE FOR!!! But apparently, you can only have one good strawberry shake on this island as none of the other shakes I’ve ordered today (including one from the same place) has matched the perfection of the first.
Mmmmmmmmmm...
By sunset, everyone had had enough swimming, sun (Jim got toasted) and frisbee throwing for the day. We got changed and headed back to the, now dark, beach. We found a nice place and ordered our Christmas dinner. I had the chicken and potatoes with rice (yes… everything goes better with rice). It seemed like a Christmas-y enough dinner. Some restaurants had waiters dressed like Santa and pretty much every place had lights strung up everywhere. It looked like Christmas, but the feeling of Christmas still was missing. We realized our families were probably just waking up to gather around the tree and open their gifts.
Service by Santa
I pictured the sight as I imagined my family opening the box of gifts I’d sent from Korea. I tried to figure out what my sister’s reaction would be to the animal hat with the attached animal paw gloves I’d bought her. I figured, even though I’m 30… and a guy, I wanted one the moment I saw my students wearing them. I thought of my mom and sister trying the Korea Honey Citrus tea that works amazingly to relieve your sore throat with a mega blast of Vitamin C. I also hoped my dad would enjoy the hat with the ear covering flaps since the winter is hitting them hard in the states.
At least I was with friends and we did have a good time together. But you can’t help but still reflect on the things you miss.
We headed back to the room for some shut eye and I ended the day listening to Rebecca St. James singing “Happy Christmas” and Harry Connick Jr.’s soothing rendition of “Silent Night”. It was a different kind of Christmas, but fun and relaxing nonetheless.
I really don't need to say anything else... yet I still find the need to caption.