Born in the USA!!!

I've always been a fan of soccer, sorry, football and
the World Cup is the premier global tournament played on a four year cycle at varying locations. This years 2010 World Cup
is being played in South Africa featuring 32 of the worlds top national teams, including The United States. American soccer
has come a long way in the last four years following 2006s terrible showing in the World Cup. The team plays well together
and have a great balance of talent and experience.Hopes run high for a solid showing and with England, Slovakia, Algeria
and America in the same four team grouping expectations are that England and America would advance but first the games have
to be played and the first game US plays is versus England. High drama indeed considering Englands history. Chris and I are
in Patong Beach for the 1:30 am start and he decided to take his small American flag he carries everywhere and nail it to a
bamboo pole so we could parade the flag down Bangla Rd before the game. Patong is a very touristy city with tons of
westerners and England was very well represented with most bars catering to the English fan. We passed in front of the
Yorkshire Restaurant and Hotel and were summarily booed. What better place to watch the game than in the enemies camp?
So in we walked proudly at 1 am flag awaving to a very raucous crowd as the lone American contingent. We were gonna be
there for the longhaul, win lose or draw and I certainly was not going to let boos and harmless taunts chase us out. Soon
some of the patrons came over to shake hands and commend our kutzpah for showing up, even though England was going to crush
the US team. Laughs were had and soon the owner came over and bought us a couple of beers in thanks for coming in. We joked
for a few minutes and he excused himself. Chris and I were just laughing about our predicament and planning our escape
should things turn sour when the music stopped and a very familiar tune began playing, "Born in the USA" was filling the
room and soon all eyes were on us. Chris grabbed his flag and began strolling around the restaurant waving the flag and
singing stopping in front of the projector screen to make sure everyone in the room knew why that song was on. When the
song ended we were greeted with a nice round of applause and a more laughs. If there was any doubt about the American
presence that night it was gone now. The game started soon after that and we watched as England scored rather quickly and
the crowd cheered robustly as they made sure we knew what just happened. All in all they were very sportsmanlike in thier
ribbing but from the looks of things we may be in for a long night. The game went on with great play from both clubs. Each
side had many offensive oppurtunities and the Americans settled down. Late in the first half Clint Dempsey pushed a ball
pass the English keeper to tie the score and chris and I leapt with joy and celebration chanting USA USA USA amidst boos
and jeers. I didnt care, this was shaping up to be a great match and we were soaking it in. Soon after the goal was scored
some guy walked past and slapped the flag dangling from our tables edge. I called him out on it and heated words were
exchanged but his buddy stepped in and quieted him down and apologized to us saying there wasnt going to be trouble. The
owner came over talked to him and them informed us that we didnt have anything to worry about there. A number of other guys
came by and mirrored his remarks and added that if anything did start itd be dealt with. It made me feel good about the
Brits there because the reputation is of rowdy unstable fans causing trouble. Here everyone was mutually cordial and laughs
were had in good fun. After the first half I walked outside for some air and the flag slapper walked out. I expected more
of the same but to my surprise he shook hand, wished me luck and left the bar. The second half was more of the same from
the two sides, a very even match played well with multiple chances and when the final whistle blew marking fulltime the
score remained 1-1. America had tied England and as a result set themselves up for a successful group round. A draw was
more to the Americans advantage and everyone knew it as they filed past us to shake our hands and comment on the match.
The game was great the atmosphere lively and unforgettable and I walked away with a little more respect for the English
football fan. Sure they like to get rowdy, cheer obsessively and on occasion make some trouble but football is the worlds
biggest sport and England home to a very supportive fanbase. I was more than happy to have watched a great world cup match
with a great group of fans.Oh, and one more thing....."I WAS BOOOOOOOOORN IN THE USA!"

In search of someplace quiet

When it came time to leave Hua Hin we decided it was time to find a quite beach and Chompon seemed like the place to be. Our train ride down was long slow and hot. Eight hours on a train is far too long especially under the minimal comforts of third class. Im not saying its a bad way to travel, after all it cost $1.67 to get there so certain comforts cant be expected. Though in the end we decided we would pay the extra fees for second class which gives a little bit more creature comforts like cushioned seats and fans may make long cross country rides more barable. We exited the train in Chompon expecting to be within walking distance to the beach. We were approached by two young Thai girls in pink FAME travel shirts who asked where we were staying. "Not sure yet, we were just gonna head to the beach and find a place there" I said. "Oh so you need taxi?" she replied. "No we'll just walk." I responded, to which she laughed and informed me that the beach was 15k away! She said she had a room in her guesthouse 4 minutes away and should us pictures from her binder. "Is there a pool at least" I inquired "No, No pool, biut there is a restaurant and you can wait and I'll call around" Chris and I looked at each other quizically. Until now this was the first time I felt maybe we were being set up for something. How many guesthouse employees wait at train stations for westeners to show up, tired and weary at 6pm , in order to convince them to stay at a place of which we'd never heard. This is the scene straight out of a B horror movie where unsuspecting tourists get mugged beaten and sold into third world slavery. But hey they were young, and looked harmless and we decided to follow them as long as we were on main streets and in town and if they decided to lure us into some little alley or shady looking building we'd run like Usain Bolt in the Olympics back to the train depot.So a few minutes pass, main streets we walk and into a cafe with normal looking people eating talking and surfing the internet. Ok, they were legit and helpful after all and I felt a little guilty of suspecting two young girls who couldve hosted the Thai version of the Mickey ouse Club of nefarious intentions, but not too guilty.

She showed us a room and it was very clean and we were very tired so we checked in with the intent of getting some rest and figuring out how to get to the beach. We discovered that beach taxi trucks roll by every hour during the daytime to take visitors to the beach so we could catch one there in the morning. We had not heard of the Thung Waea Lang beach but it was going to have to do. In the morning we got up and waited for the truck taxi. Its a small pickup with two benches running the length of the side with a windowless cab cover designed to the scale of Thais and not westeners so we crammed our way in for the 15 minute ride out. We arrived in this beach community and deposited in front of Sand and Sun Bungalows across the street from the beach. Looking up and down this quiet road we could see other places to stay but this was the only one with a clear view of the beach so we checked into our one room bungalow and crossed over to the beach. The solitude here was amazing. The beach stretched for quite a distance around a cove and ended at the base of a large hills peak. The sand was white and the water blue green and we were the only people within sight. We had somehow stumbled into a deserted little beach village with as many people as we could count on our hands. There were only a handful of eateries shops and guesthouses/hotels and we were the only westeners there. The place was all to ourselves and the much needed respite from the hub bub of Hua Hin would be well absorbed! We would stay here for a few days walking aimlessly to a restaurant to eat, a shop for drinks and the beach for relaxing. I honestly could have stayed there for weeks but we had an agenda. Im sure during season this place rocks with visitors and the beach is jammed but on this three day venture we found complete solitude.