Hello!

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't done and update in a while, it is so fun
here with so much to do.

I successfully completed my open water diving certification with PADI,
which mean I can dive without and instructor up to 18 M. I was really
worried that the diving would hurt my ears, buy there was no
discomfort whatsoever. I cannot wait to go diving again, unfortunately
my travel partners didn't enjoy it as much ad mr, so I might have to
wait until next trip.

We are in Ko Phangan now, we have been here three days I think. The
7th was a full moon party, which had the world famous "full moon
party". It was insane, SO many people on the island. The party was
fun, but I much prefer other activities.

We leave here tomorow, I forget where we're going, but I know we will
go on a three day wilderness trek soon, so I won't be able to do my
daily updates (haha)

Talk to everyone soon!

Ko Tao

Hi.

We arrived in Ko Tao, a smallish island, but big enough for a some
motorvehicles.

We started our scuba training last night, which involved watching some
Very cheesy movies. Today we had three quizzes. And went diving I'm
shallow waters (no more than 3m)

The sensation of breathing underwater us very cool.

I think this is my favourite island so far. Right when we arrived we
ran into 3 Ivey guys playing vollywball - small world. We hung out
with them last night after our lessons and exchanged travel stories.

The island is very relaxed. And quite reasonably priced.

Tomorrow we have an exam for scuba so we have some readng tonight, but
so far it has been quite easy.

The weather here has been very nice, save for a few windy moments Whig
last maybe 20 minutes. We encountered one of these times when we were
on the boat heading home from our dive. We were relaxing in the top
deck- and the waves started picking up. I tried plying a game with
myself to see how long I could stand in yw deco without falling or
moving my feet. The big waves made it aVery difficult. Ron tried the
same, and a big roll came that VERY NEARLY sent him over the edge. It
was pretty funny and scarybat the same time.

Shawn and I have a bungallow to ourselves, and Ron and Carl are
sharing on.

The Pad Thai here is really good, an I had it for dinner two times in
a row.

In off for now, two dives tomorrow!

in Ko Samui

We flew to Ko Samui today. The alarm didn't wake us up, so we were almost late for our ferry, but we got it in time (it left at 9am)

The night before consisted of hanging out with some Quebecers we met, as well as doing jump rope (the jump rope was lit on fire)

I was the "champion" of it, so I won a beer. It was pretty exciting, and VERY tiring. They kept spinning the rope progressively faster the longer I stayed in.

Ko Phi Phi (the island we just left) is VERY small, with virtually no motorized vechicles. No cars, there are only a handful of electric/small motor vehicles used by people to collect garbage, etc.
It is a beautiful island, and we had a blast. Yesterday Shawn and I went on a longboat for a snorkling trip. We saw AMAZING fish, and it was incredible how tame they were. They swam right up to you with no inhibitions. Beautiful colourful fish, it was like I was in a discovery channel show.

We rode on what are called 'Long Boats' - traditional Thai boats. After a little prodding, the driver let me steer the boat. It took a minute to get the hand of it, but it was a lot of fun.

I have tried to be very good w/ the sunscreen, but today on the ferry from Ko Phi Phi to Krabi (where the airport was) I didn't put any on, and my body it slightly burned. Not too badly though, but there is definitely some red.


Okay I'm off. I think Ron and Carl want to go out tonight, but Shawn and I did last night and I am feeling a bit tired.

-Chris

Gps

This us whereby am according to the gps

Arriving at Ko Phi Phi

Picture from the boat that took us from Patong to the island.

I don't have as many pictures here, as they guys have really good ones
(one is waterproof!) I will have to get the pictures later

In Ko Phi Phi!

Hi everyone, a lot To wrote about but I'll keep it short.

First night was in Patong. I flew into Bangkok transerred to Phuket
and then taxied to Patong. I met shawn at our hotel, and we got a
drink and then wales along the main street an the beach. We were
offered over 60 massages from women on the street, some who were in
the edge of physically assaulting us. It's amazing how I am always
offered a "special price".

Next morning I was up at seven, and shark and I went swimming. Water
is So warm around 80 I would guess. The swim was beautiful, and at
around noon we got on the ferry for Ko Phi Phi. It is a small island,
with a vibrant night life on the beach including flaming limbo, and
firespinners. We actually met two Western studets here, one at Ivey.
We hung out with them last night, and they left today.

Today we rented kyaks and paddled around the island a bit. We found a
beautiful isolated beach with stunning sand. There were only a few
people there, so we docked grqcfully (actually our boat was turned
over by the waves) and enjoyed two hours at our private beach. A group
of monkeys came to the beach and were feet from us. If we got too
close they would chase us and we would run. We learned that f we
chased them, they ran. It was a bakc and forth game if human chase
monkey and monkey chase human.

This evening we climbed to the lookup point, where we could get a
beautif
View of the island.

It is so hot and humid here ALL the time, but now I am adjusting and
not as bothered by it.

Talk to you soon!

Airport (continued)

Still at the airport, the flight leaves in an hour. The airport here
is beautiful. Really high ceiling and a spacious feeling.

I flew with Steve to Vienna from Macedonia. Steve had to leave right
away to catch his next flight. I ran into 4 other Ivey guys (also
teaching through Leader) at the Vienna airport, the Moldovan team.
They seemed to have a good time, but the visit was only a minute long.
It was nice to see some familiar faces.

Below is a picture of "Shopska", a very popular Macedonian salad. It
consists of some type of white cheese (maybe goat) with tomatos and
cucumbers. There is also some light dressing, I'm not sure what it was.

Friday night we went out for dinner with many of the students, which
was very nice. Then, about 5 students took us out to a disco. The only
problem is that the disco doesn't Open until midnight.

We left around 4am, since Shazia's flight was at 5am.

In Bangkok

Hi everyone. I had a great flight from Vienna to Bangkok. I had a
whole row to myself, so I was able to lay down and actually get some
sleep which was a nice change. I am now in the airport, waiting for my
flight to Phuket. I am still a bit tired, but not too bad.

Today is our last day of teaching. The students are presenting their business plans as if they were presenting in front of investors, describing their business, requesting funding and the amount of equity they are willing to part with for the investment.

The students businesses are quite impressive (as I mentioned before). There is a visible improvement in their presentation skills over the last 2 weeks.

Below are some pictures taken over the last two weeks:



Ohrid - Vacation Destination




Old house in Ohrid




Night view of Skopje - has a listed population of around 400 - 500K, but apparently it is actually closer to 1M.




Attending the Bob Marley commemoration concert - right next door to our hotel

Town Square

Skopje Airport - Alexander the Great

I leave tomorrow (Saturday) at 5:00pm Skopje time to Vienna. I then leave VIE to BKK at 11pm VIE time, arrive in BKK at 2:00pm on SUNDAY in BKK time.

Then I fly to Phuket, and plan to arrive there at 7pm

Ciao

Update

Well, the teaching is done. Tomrrow consists of presentations from the
students, and then a dinner/ night out. Shazia leaves at 5 in the
morning, so we are likely going to stay up long enough to see her off.
Steve and I are on the same flight to Vienna, which isn't until 5pm. I
then don't leave for Bangkok until 11pm on Sat. I will hopefully
arrive in Bangkok at 2pm on Sunday, bkk time.

I am then flying to Phuket. My friend shawn and some others are in
Thailand now, and the plan is to meet up with them as soon as I get
into Thailand.

Steve and I ate hoping to get another lesson in on Saturday before we
leave.

The students here are great, all but one running their own businesses,
and they are very interested in the material, and they (seem to, and
hopefully do) get good value out of the course.

Steve and I played ping pong against two of our students, and we are
happy to report that Canada won 3 - 0.

My Macedonian is getting a bit better. Their numbers are very similar
to Russian, which is helpful.

I can almost read all words in the Cyrillic alphabet, although there
are still a few symbols I don't know.

Ciao!

pictures from Ohrid museum

Ohrid, Macedonia

Weekend in Ohrid

Hi everybody.

In Friday afternoon we left skopje for Ohrid, THE vacation destination
for Macedonians. It is a beautiful small town if about 50000 during
the off season, with small twisitng roads on a hillside overlooking
lake ohrid, also referred to as the Macedonian sea. While at our
hotel, we met a bunch of medical students from Macedonia and
surrounding countries, here for a medical conference. They were
extremely friendly, and Saturday night we went out to a disco with
them (there were abou 100 or so). We were also fortunate enough to be
given certificates for completing the program, made out to Dr. Chris
Gilpin, which is pretty awesome. Hopefully it will make it home in
good condition, so that I can hang it in my room.

Ohrid is full if history, and we visited many small museums and
churches. There are 365 churches here, each dedicated to a different
patron saint.

In the next post I will attach some of the pictures from the weekend.
Hope all is well back home!

Tennis

So we just gotback from our tennis lesson. It was a lot of fin, we
didn't play at all but instead did drills. I hope to go back at least
one more time before leaving. The courts were emmiculately well kept,
and were clay. I had never played on a clay court, and didn't realize
that it had such a sand-like consistency and that it needed to be
watered.

Tonight we ate going out with a friend of a friend of steves, who just
happens to live in Macedonoa. It really is a small world

misc pictures

Update

Hey everyone, (getting tired of this opening line yet?)

Today is Wednesday, we have completed our third day of teaching. It
has been going very so far, and the students seem quite advanced. We
have done some one on one consulting, and the businesses seem VERY
promising.

In about an hour we are going to get tennis lessons. Last night we
went out with two of our students for some drinks, which was nice.

This weekend we are planning in going to Ohrid, from what I understand
it is a very popular vacation destination.

The taxis here are very reasonable, costing about 3 dollars for a 20
minute ride.

I am very glad to have the phone here, as we have had students and
new friends message and phone us. It's very exciting.

The weather is extremely warm. It is still beautifully sunny out, I
haven't seen a drop of rain since arriving.

Luckily yomorow is my day off, I don't have to prepare any teaching
materials.

I am learning Macedonian, but not at re same rate as Russian/Romanian.
This is my fault as ii haven't been as persistant as the past. Maybe
it's my age.

I do know:

Hello - Sdravo
Please - vo molem
My name is - sayviksum
Thank you- bluhgolurun or fallah

Hopefully I will expand my repetior of words soon

Ciao!

meals and stuff

First day if teaching.

Hi everyone. Today was the first day if teaching and and it seemed to
go very well. The class size was quite small without about fifteen
students. We are supposed to have 17 in total. The difference this
year for me is that they are all graduates, most running their own
businesses. Some seem to be quite successful. They all seemed to
really be engaged with the course, so hopefully we will be able to add
some value. It will be harder this year since they seem to have a lot
of experience with running a business.

We started teaching at 10am, and finished at 200pm. It seems that we
will likely modify the curriculum and remove some of the cases and
replace them with more business plan consulting.

Shazia and I went for a walk after class to get a sim card for my
phone and look for grocereis. We found both things, and I now have a
phone number ( for about 14 bucks canadian, with prepaid time) all
incoming calls are free, so if anyone has a calling card and wants/
needs to get in touch with one of us, the number is 075 985499. I have
NO idea what prefixes are needed to reach that though. We needed a
number to arrange meeting, etc while here.

It is a buy cooler today, around 15 or so. The nights get quite cool.
I took some pictures of our meals, I will post them soon

See you!

multiple picture test

test of multiple picture posting.

Morning

First morning here, it is about 8am and 12 degrees right now. The
picture is taken lookingnout if the front of the hotel. It features
the worlds biggest cross, according to wikipedia. At night it lights up.

It is suprising how many new cars there are, including bmws. It seems
that there are more new cars then old, which is a bug change from the
other two sites I visited in the past. We start teaching at 10am,
until probably 1pm, but I am not sure of the exact end time.

Hope all is well at home!

I will try to remember to take pictures of my meals, as I remember
that some were curious about that last year.

Arrived

Hey everyone, I am writing this to you from hotel kayat in Macedonia.
I am even more tired now, but we walked through the city a bit and saw
some sights. When I arrived it was HOT and now it has cooled down
quite a bit.

The hotel is nice, small but nice. Steve and u share a room and Shazia
has one to herself. Our first day of teaching is tomorrow, hopefully
it goes well!

There are lots of parks here, and a river flowing through the city.
Everyone here seemsbto be active, either walking, biking or
rollerskating. I guess that is what you get in a society lacking an
abundance if tv and video games.

Weather

Well I am still waiting to board the plane, so I thought I would post
the expected weather for this week, because it is extremely
interesting. It looks like it will be a pretty warm week!

Interesting fact; according to wikipedia, Mother Theresa was born on
Skopje.

In Vienna airport

Hi everyone. I am currently in the Vienna airport, they have free
wireless here which is nice. There were 5 other leader members on my
flight, and although I didn't sit with them we met up at the airport
to wait for our respective flights. It was nice having people to pass
the time with. It is about 630am e.s.t. And I wasn't really able to
sleep on the flight, so I am a bit tired, but not too bad. I leave for
skopje In about an hour. I wanted to take a picture of the terminal
but was worried that people would think I am stalking them, so here is
a picture of my jeans instead.

Hope all is well at home! P.s we were served two mealson the flght,
dinner and breakfast, both I found quite good.

The service was good, but the seat was cramped.

Test of landscape photo using iPhone

Test to see if landscape photos appear sidewise on the blog

Pretending to take over the world before travelling. I did not win :(

Test post from iPhone

Test to see if I am able to succesfully blog from my iPhone.

Mic check

Test

Test of Blog.