home sweet Bangkok home

    We're not homeless anymore! Not that we were living in squalor out at the Golden Pearl, but it's a relief to finally have a place. After a week of balancing our teaching orientation with appointments to see endless listings, we finally decided on Le Premier 2 on Soi 59 in the Thong Lo area:

• 2 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms
• A third bathroom bathroom
• Maid's quarters (smaller room that could probably fit a double bed that we'll use for storage of luggage, visitors, etc)
• Open and large living + dining room
• 2 small balconies
• 16th floor
• 24 hour security
• Fitness room (it's a little weak but we're supposed to be getting deals on memberships for the fitness center directly behind our school)
• Outdoor pool, jacuzzi and sauna
• 20 min walk to the school, 5 min to the main road and 10 min to a sky train stop
• The price is right - the rent is covered by our housing stipend included in our salary. This was more difficult to find because the stipend was determined years ago, rent prices have been on the rise here and our school is right downtown where prices are higher on average anyway. Oh, and appaaarently teachers are paid more than doctors here, so the giant student debt thing wasn't flying with the plethora of real estate agents we dealt with.

My adulty-looking room.
Those pillows looked larger at the market.
God dammit.

     More pictures of the new place once we've spruced it up a touch. Canadiana courtesy of Momma Urban, which will soon be decorating my new classroom (N206, ya know, if you ever happen to drop by the school).
     Kels and I went to the Chitachuk (or Jitajuk, depends on with whom you are speaking with) market today. It's technically an outdoor massively massive market but most of the stalls are covered and it had a huge variety of things for sale- knick-knacks, furniture, incense, toiletries, clothing, food, jewelry, exotic animals (from ducks to peacocks) and odds and ends for the home. We were able to pick up some things we really needed for the new place (linens, towels etc) and will go back once we figure out the Bangkok lifestyle beyond our tourist-y experience so far.
   With the move and the settling in, guess who still knows veeery little about the courses she starts to teach in 3 days? 

   This girl!

   Icebreakers, icebreakers, icebreakers.