So I've got a little less than a week left here, and I'm kind of excited to go home. 

The schedule here at Tiger Muay Thai is pretty packed, we're doing 3-4 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the evening, so outisde of training, I've been pretty much drained.  I get a good nap in everyday and  go to bed early, and for the most part we've walked everywhere, so I've had a lot of time to think.

It's weird being this far from my family... generally if something bad happens, or I just need them, they are a phone call away.  Even when I've traveled to Dallas, Atlanta, Vegas, Vancouver, etc I knew that if I ran into trouble, my family would be there to bail me out.  On the flight here I realized how... alone I really was, how on my own I really was... It was kinda scary to think about.

Thailand is a wonderful place, but it has it's drawbacks too.  I've been attacked by bugs twice in my sleep.  The first time my legs got all chewed up and it was gross, and the other night something bit me on the face and it swelled up HUGE and hurt like a beeyotch!
The Thai boxing was rather disappointing, Granted I wasn't at the major stadium, but the level of competition was basically decently trained forigners against Taxi Cab drivers and Thai who really didn't come to fight.  There were some exceptions but for most of the fights you could look at the guy's corner and tell who was going to win.  There were the Gyms that came out all decked in their Muay Thai gear with their Red cornermans jackets and Wai Kru, then there was the guys who showed up in jeans with a pack of smokes in their front pocket.   I'ts good that they have 'feeder' guys for beginners, but at the same time it's hard to take pride in winning against someone who came to lose.
When 2 good Thais fought each other, it was pretty awesome though, most of them were kids 13-16 and had up to 40 fights under their belts.  They had good technique and heart. When they got knocked out, it was BAAAD!  The venues remind me of the old Battle at the Barn days with clouds of smoke filling the air.
The highlight of the fights was definitly when the MMA fight happened.  It was the first one in Phuket I think and only the 4th one in Thailand.  Both fighters came to Tiger to train from various other parts of the world and trained at opposite times so we all got to know them both pretty well.  The fight was quick and exciting ending in a great knockout.
Another thing that has gotten sorta annoying is the Thai girls.  Basically if imagine being surrounded by strippers EVERYDAY, you can see how it gets old fast.  Yes I know you want my money, No I don't want to take you home, Gross you just kissed a creepy old man and now you think you have any value in my eyes?
NO! Some of it is funny though, like when BJ and I were just walking past some bar and a girl yelled out in a terrible broken English accent "I vant to fuck youuuuuuu..." or the first night we went to the beach when the girl came up to me and said "Boom Boom, No Fee" oh and everywhere you go, they are going to give you a special discount... "Just for you" like riiiiight, it's still generally twice what it should be, and walking past every shop getting hassled got old REALLY FAST!  The worst was the Indian suit salesman who goes to shake your hand and won't let go... he starts calling you "my friend" and dragging you into his store.  I was really hungry (and there for crabby) at that point and nearly elbowed him in the face. (The Thai's wouldn't care because he wasn't Thai, and I've been working on a lot of elbows)

The beaches are beautiful here, but if you want a seat it's like 200 baht, which didn't bother me because I didn't come from Arctic temps in Minnesota to Not swim in the Ocean.

The training is really tough here, the Muay Thai is relly technical instruction, the pad work is killing me, and even the submission wrestling has been pretty good. I really had to work for top position more and control better from bottom because I'm by far the smallest guy doing MMA and after about 3 minutes in this heat it is soup city!  The temp Instructor, Wade Henderson, is a cool guy from South Africa and his assistant from Sweeden has helped me with a lot too.  I think Ray Elbe (the main instructor) gets back from the States today or sometime soon.

It's time for a Nap zzz

Oh, there is a great American movie channel here, and DVD's that haven't been released are cheap here too, so I've seen a bunch of cool movies, and MTV Asia is WAAAAY better than the standard American MTV, they play videos all day long and it's a good mix of old and new stuff. (I saw the new song form Leona Lewis, followed by Micheal Jackson's Thriller, then Maroon 5 and Jack Johnson.

okay, back to that nap!