Part 3: The Phuket CDC

I'm staying for a month at DiveAsia, the Career Development Center here at Kata Big Rock on the outskirts of Phuket.  I've enrolled in the Instructor Development Course to learn from (Course Director) Bjorn Tackman. When I pass the Instructor Examination in two weeks, I'd like to gain experience working on Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand during March and April.

I hope to have these credentials when departing Phuket:

• Open Water SCUBA Instructor
• Specialty Instructor: Nitrox and DSAT Gas Blender
  
• Emergency First Responder Instructor, including Care for Children
• Progress toward Master SCUBA Diver Trainer
  

Mailing address until 24-Feb-2007:
Matthew Reiser c/o DiveAsia
P.O. Box 70, Kata Beach
Phuket 83100, Thailand

Diary of my visit in Phuket:

Saturday 20-January:
Arrived at the CDC a week before pre-study officially begins, so I haven't met my fellow students yet. Those here now are finishing their Instructor Examination (IE) tomorrow.

I'd forgotten how hot and humid it is here, even in winter. I'm also remembering how authentic Thai food kicks my ass, as four cold drinks only slightly neutralize an innocent-looking larb. I was dropped into a fan-swept sleep by:

• a badly-needed shower in the common restroom
• a jarring Thai massage by the (unexpectedly) strong Ook
• milk and homemade pie by "Chris the Swiss" (husband of larb-chef Lisa Lee)
• a 1971 concert bootleg recording of "Fat Old Sun" by the Pink Floyd

Sunday 21-January:
Arose ~5am (from jet-lag, and a rooster) to the sight of Jupiter and as-yet-unseen Mars in the mostly-clear 73F (23C) pre-dawn skies. A respectable air of self-reliance hovers in this environment of mostly German and Japanese students. The two-day-old Moon, Venus and Mercury appeared together around 7pm in the West, and thanks to my equatorial vantage point (Phuket is 9N latitude) the ecliptic (and hence the above trio) was aligned nearly vertically.

I decided against upgrading my $10/night non-AC shared-bathroom twin to a $30/night king in an-AC house, as I fear the privacy, TV and artificially cold air might spoil me. I'm now digesting logistics (equipment/pool/laundry) and stalking an AC-powered classroom so I can study without heat stroke.

Met a helpful, recently-minted instructor "Guy" from England who's been working at DiveAsia for six months.

Joined (chef) Lisa Lee and a couple Thai friends for a 20-minute drive to an authentic large-outdoors-dining-meets-tent-revival in Phuket Town. Chowing cheap demonic dishes, I asked about the large brown pudding I was swallowing and heard "chicken blood".

Coming back to the dive school, I couldn't find the cross-street leading from main road to DiveAsia. The twists, turns, driveways and businesses all start to look the same, especially in the dark at speeds high enough to avoid being run over by cars or the even-more-impatient-and-nimble fellow moped'ers. After stopping about ten times to ask "where is DiveAsia?" I gave up, went to the nearest gas station, and asked even more people, who also smiled uselessly at me.  As I wearily gazed around the station, I gratefully saw a man with a "DiveAsia" shirt.

Monday 22-January:
(German Course Director) Jorgen gruffly ejects me from the only AC-powered classroom because I'm "here early and next week's IDC hasn't started yet". Now I remember how the sweltering humid air in and around my $10/night non-AC room kills my already-weakened powers of concentration and I reconsider the temptations of that AC-powered private house on the small hill behind the pool for $30/night. I negotiate with the savvy Lisa Lee down to $25.

Ahhh.... Two air-conditioners, and a hard king-size bed. The view's nice, once retail-grade security gates lift off sliding glass doors facing the Indian Ocean. Although I normally never watch TV, the mouthwatering Maria Sharapova is hard to resist. After salivating at the TV like a horny zombie for 20 minutes, it's off to find groceries on the $3/day moped. Driving Phuket roads is flowing chaos. Don't try to control. Just let go, and feel/join the flow.

Carried by truck with Chris-the-Swiss, Lisa Lee, and Kristine (a chain-smoking German with an easy laugh) to Thai dinner at a painfully spicy seafood restaurant 30 minutes from the dive school. Bigger tiger prawns I've never seen.

Tuesday 23-January:
Back to waking at (vs. before) dawn. Listening to "Bicycles and Tricycles" from "The Orb" on the laptop, and enjoying a private shower and a newly self-sufficient breakfast of:

• coffee
• frozen banana (fridge set too high)
• juices

Met fellow instructor candidate "Gary" from Nottingham, England. He's a funny, friendly 36-year-old divemaster/bloke who works in Malawi and Tanzania and seems better prepared for the course than me. I finally start reading through the IDC pre-requisites

Wednesday 24-January:
Rich Kirk, co-worker from Vignette 2000/2001, arrives for a 12-day stay in Patong, Phuket.  Feeling guilty that I won't have enough time to properly socialize with him.

Thursday 25-January:
Enjoyed pineapple and guava with the friendly Maggie, a newly-minted OWSI from Poland with stories of travels through hilly northern Thailand and laid-back Laos. She will teach in Croatia in June.  Good fortune seems to easily find her.

Studying Knowledge Review #1 (of 16). Practiced demonstrating most of the 20 PADI OW skills in the pool with Gary.

Linda Dingel (my Dive-n-Surf instructor from 2002-2005) and David Jensen (Director of SCUBA operations at Dive-n-Surf) send me certification information.

Friday 26-January:
Dominic (from Dive-n-Surf) sends me his great description of the critical attributes of demonstration-quality dive skills, and this helps us practice.

Doing Knowledge Review #2. More skills-practice with Gary (seen at left here).  Three hours in the pool and I'm feeling more confident.

Saturday 27-January:
Declined Gary's offer for more pool practice, to instead focus on Knowledge Reviews #3-6.

Sunday 28-January:
Again I decline pool practice with Gary to finish Knowledge Reviews 6-16 and Dive Theory exams A & B. (Chef) Lisa Lee kindly washes my load of laundry. Kristine, a German vacationer from the Bavarian Alps won't leave me alone, and I'm going to have to tell her to "bug off".

My skills practice buddy Gary is well-prepared for the IDC regarding both theory and practice, but he's finding pleasure in teasing me about Kristine's advances.

(Continue the story at entry "IDC and IE")

Part 2: Crossing the Pacific

Departed Los Angeles January 19 (thank you sexy Sarah).  After 33 hours of walking, sitting and napping in/between Seoul and Bangkok, I arrive in humid Phuket Thailand local noon Saturday. During the first leg, I enjoyed a delicious Bi-Bim-Bap, (Korean noodle & vegetable) dinner. Business class is "the only way to fly" (now if only Discover Card would let me to whore myself out for miles like Visa does).

During my tiring transit, and while shuffling bleary-eyed through a Bangkok customs line, a middle-aged Muslim gentleman who'd overheard my American accent turned to me and extended his hand with a "let's recognize that we are brothers" smile. Refreshing.

Under heavy insomnia, I tripped on a normally-visible stair to stumble obnoxiously into a Bangkok business-class lounge lobby and mumble at the amused receptionist, "May I have some cold water?" My next flight leg was imminent (I'd maxed out my sleeperette minutes at 60 before the alarm malfunctioned), so I simply bailed out of the lobby, back into the concourse toward my dawn flight to Phuket, boarding like a zombie.

Note to self: To avoid relying on luck...

• Buy all flight legs ahead of time.
• Insert passport copies into all pieces of luggage, and lock them.
• Bring electronics carry-on (to prevent "Frozen Camera Syndrome")

Part 1: Extending the Visa

The 30-day Visa-on-arrival given casual tourists upon entering Thailand won't suffice, as I'm planning 90 days (January 18 to April 17).

I'd originally hoped for a student (type "ED") non-Immigrant Visa allowing 90 days, and although the Course Director in Phuket documented my role as student, The Consulate denied it as "insufficient to show university-level student status".

So I need a double-entry tourist Visa, allowing two 60-day visits separated by a "border run" (in my case, probably to/from Myanmar, via Ranong).  The second visit would start late February, after specialty training in Phuket, so I can stay on Koh Tao through April.

Lessons for next time:

• Book trips which are less than 60 days long
  
• Apply for a single-entry tourist Visa (by mail)