Thai Traditional Massage By Blind Masseurs

Today I went to a Thai traditional massage, but I went to a special place where an older couple lives and works. Both of them are completely blind and they can't see anything. If you had a look at there eyes, there were no eyeballs and they kept there eyes closed all the time.

It was very impressive to see, how they walked around in there room and it seemed, that they new the whole room by heart.



The most impressive thing for me was, that this couple is raising a nine year old daughter and they are independent. They don't get any aid support and they do all by themselves.

I believe, that this kind of people are the real hero's in our world. Most of us are complaining all the time about nothing and mostly about senseless things. It's very impressing to see, that there are so strong people who have the will and strength to do it.

Some pictures from Bangkok

On my way to school, a picture from the back seat of a motorbike taxi...


The view from the balcony of my room...


The view out of a window in the mansion I'm staying...

First week in Bangkok

The first week in Bangkok went by really fast. I had to arrange the school, check out the apartment and find a nice internet coffee shop... Now, everything is done, there are already some changes ahead :-)

The school I picked isn't really what I was looking for. The school teaches in phonetics and first I thought this might be some fun, but actually it's a waste of time. I can read Thai already and I don't want to study some strange phonetics to understand the teachers writing. Beside this, the teacher isn't very good and can't even talk in English. If she would be able to talk in English, she could explain certain grammatical items much better, but she can't -- or the other way round, it's very hard for me to understand her. Therefore I decided, that I'm looking for a new school. This afternoon I'll have a first trial lesson and I think I'll take a private lessons, so I'll be able to learn faster.

Beside there is a picture of my classmates at the current school. They are all Japanese and they are very nice people.

Sometimes they talk in Japanese in the class, so there is absolutely nothing to understand :-)

I had some interesting talks with some of them and we made some cost comparison between Switzerland and Japan and interestingly, it seems, that Switzerland is much more expensive than Japan.

I remember some worldwide BigMac comparison and it would be nice to see the prices and costs there. If anyone knows this comparison, please drop me a note.

This weekend I'm looking forward to go to Wat Mahatat. I would like to get some Vipassana lessons, and if I'm lucky, I can chat with some monks. I have some questions and they might have an interesting point of view about these questions :-)

Morning Traffic in Bangkok

The morning traffic in Bangkok is amazing. There are so many people all over and it seems, that everyone got freshened up, so they can hurry around again.

I guess you get the same impression in every big city. Maybe it's more intense here, since it's so hot and stinky.

Thai Language School

Yesterday I started with the Thai language school. The school program is based on three speaking and three reading/writing levels. I started with the second speaking level with four Japanese classmates. It's quite funny with these Japanese :-) I'm one week behind the school program, so I'll get some private lessons, starting next week.

To catch up with the whole program I'll make some extra effort myself, there shouldn't be any problem with the lessons. Actually I got a big advantage, since my classmates only speak and can't read. I can read and sometimes I read the (expected) answers, the teacher is asking for ;-) I hope she won't find out to fast ;-)

Next week I'll make some pictures of the school, the teacher and the classmates, so you'll know how they look like...

First day in Bangkok

Finally I arrived in Bangkok and got a very nice room. Below you can see my view out of the balcony... It's a great view, isn't it? ;-)



Today I went to a Thai language school. It's quite near to my place, so I only need about 45 minutes by subway and skytrain. The schools name is AAA Thai School and they provide intense lessons, only taught in Thai. I would like to invest a lot in the Thai language, so I'll have a good fundament for my further traveling and mainly for joining the Volunthai project.

I belive language is a fundamental channel for communication, so a minimum understanding between people is possible. Withouth a simple and basic understanding of a language also a culture can't be understood. Since the thai culture is very different than the european culture I have to make this effort.

But I don't belive, that I'll be able to achive more than a basic understanding. Unfortunately I won't have enough time to invest so much in the language studies. Since misunderstanding is the basic form of communication, even between people talking in there mother tongues, I'm fine when I'll be able to follow the basic things :-)

Joining Volunthai in October

Today I got a definitive answer from Volunthai, I'll join the project in October :-) I'm looking forward to an interesting time.

Moving my apartment

My apartment is empty now...

The bookshelf's are cleaned out, the stuff is packed into boxes and bags and moved.

I have some minor things to organize and then I'm ready for my journey.

I'm looking forward to some interesting time...