Uttaradit..... tallyho!

Wow, one more week and Al leaves for Uttaradit! We thought we were moving to Ubon but we're wrong, it's Uttaradit (long story about that mix up).

Here's the lowdown on Uttaradit, Thailand as we know it now. It's the capital of a rural province in Thailand, also called Uttaradit, that is known for it's jungles, farmland, and it's famous fruit called langsat. There is even a langsat festival. The city is only around 40,000 people but it's on the main train line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and has the creature comforts we hoped for; namely high-speed internet and a grocery store. It's on the Laos border, two hours south of Chiang Mai. There are jungles there which house various hill tribes as well as elephants, rhinos, and tigers! It has some interesting historical and archaeological sites but is best known for it's natural beauty.

We will be teaching English at the Uttaradit Rajahabad University, which is part of the national university system and has 10,000 students, mostly from rural areas. The facilities seem nice from the website and it has some joint programs with schools in the US and China. We will be able to afford aour own house and probably a car which will be great. Al will live at his friend Matt's house at first.

There is very little information about Uttaradit on the web and nothing in the guidebooks! It's so close to Chiang Mai, which is an adventurers mecca, so most just pass over it. It'll be a big change from bustling Seoul!

Here are some web links with a bit more info....

The University Webpage.
Wikipedia entry with map.
Tourist Sites
Another Tourist Site
Langsat Fruit
Hmong Hill Tribe
Mien Hilltribe

OK, anyway, I'll be Stateside in a few short weeks! See you guys soon!