One more step in assimilation

This past week went by quickly........... I had a few attempts of productivity that failed miserably- the story of my life! haha

I did finally get my Thai driver's license! Two, actually- one for a car and one for a motorcycle. It was a rather simple process. I took my international driving permit, having both automobile and motorcycle endorsements, along with a couple other necessary documents to the Department of Land and Transportation, took a colorblindness test, paid the fee, took my photo, and walked out with the licenses. I keep the motorcycle license in my wallet and leave my American, international, and other Thai licenses at home.

The automobile license is identical, except for the word "Motorcycle" in the upper right

Yesterday I went to my first soccer/football game. There was a tournament held in Chiang Mai called the King's Cup. I watched Thailand beat North Korea (that's right, NORTH Korea!) and then Sweden beat Finland. I don't think of Chiang Mai as being a big city with special venues or attractions, so I'm always surprised when something like this happens or when flocks of tourists from Bangkok are in town for something.

North Korea in red, Thailand in blue

Air quality has been getting a little bad lately, some days are worse than others. From what I gather, beginning now and lasting until about April, as harvesting is wrapping up, farmers are burning off their old crops to make way for the new ones during the new planting season. Burning is the easiest way for large fields of hardier plants. You don't realize how hazy the air is until you notice mountains disappearing. The photo on the left below was taken shortly after I started working at my current school. The photo on the right was taken around a week ago after a fellow teacher said, "Hey, look. The mountain disappeared." Don't worry, it has since returned. Like I said, some days are worse than others.

When people ask me to describe where I live in Thailand, I often say that I live off of a street off of a sort-of street that is off a main street. Walking to the coffee shop to type up this blog post, I decided to take a couple photos since I'm not sure if I shared any of my neighborhood... So here are a few:

Two of my neighbors, "the girls next door," Dream and King (pronounced 'ging').
They're filling up the kiddie pool for a baptism tonight at their house church!

This is the sort-of street off of a main street

This is the street I live on, the street off of a sort-of street

This is the backside of our row of townhouses.

This is a pair of spirit houses on the sort-of street.
There is a much nicer one on the edge of our townhouses.