The Tail End of Summer

My summer officially ends on Thursday with the start of orientation.  I'm looking forward to meeting my new coworkers and starting my Thai lessons.  Apparently its mandatory by the Thai government that foreign teachers receive at least 20 hrs of language lessons.  Works for me.
Today I decided to attempt laundry.  I had planned to try tomorrow but since the laundry area which is also the kitchen area and technically outside by most definitions, was wet.  Not damp but there were puddles of water on the ground which is strange since the place appears to be pretty well covered.  Anyhow, electricity and water have a tendency not to mix so I waited til today.  I decided to use the small washing machine since its cheaper and I didn't have a lot but changed my mind.  When I looked in the small washer, it was half full of water that looked like it had been sitting for a few days.  Maybe the rain mysteriously got in like the floor or maybe the machine never emptied from the last load.  I decided that hand washing in a bucket looked like a great idea.  It took a few hours to move several items of clothing from the washing stage to the hang dry stage, but most of my clothes ended up getting washed in the end.  Most are still drying tonight but that's what happens when I only have indoor drying capacities.  I have a portable drying line or whatever its called which helps a bit.

Ping River on my walk

After the laundry experience, I decided to try walking to the shopping center that I went to a few days ago.  I think it took me at least a half hour or more and I accidently went through the garden neighborhood.  The good news about that though was that there was less traffic.  I'm still learning to cross the street without getting hit.  So far its working for me.  Sounds easy coming from the US but since motorcycles come from behind cars on both sides, its easy not to see them coming.  So I'm learning that crossing the street in any place where there's an opening works and look everywhere except the sidewalk when crossing the street.
That's a really long way to say that I made it to the shopping center. I decided to be adventurous and eat in the cafe court.  People here are very patient thank heavens.  The cook enlisted another customer to read the menu item that I was pointing to and then pointed to where I was to go to get a cash card for paying.  I have noticed that just because there is an English translation with a Thai word doesn't mean people understand the English word.  But people here are patient and smile a lot.  So I do the same.  Even on the road, I don't hear a lot of honking.  People just go with the flow.  I could get used to this.