Hoo boy. Lots to add.

Getting to our rooms was... hectic again. We didn't know who was where, we didn't know room numbers, rooms got split up, we got driven all around not sure where we were going. 2 rooms got set fine, the other 2 (me, Swaffy, Denny, Nikki and Kanako included) didn't do so great. Eventually it got worked out though. I had some trouble communicating with the guys, Anh kept telling me to cut down my English and I just wasn't sure how to phrase things. Bah. It all got settled, anyway. I went out walking in search of wireless, went entirely the wrong way for a bit, discovered various things about, finally got to the Hippo Bar & Grill, grabbed a water and tried their wireless. Something was fritzy, I think on their end, and it was only later that I found out some others on the trip were enjoying a bar not far at all from where we were staying, with free wireless, no problem. Bah.

Koh Tao is hilly. Especially up by where we're staying. It's a lot on the calves, but it'll be good for me, I suppose.

So after all that walking around stuff we headed back to the place we ate brunch at, got all our dive stuff registered for tomorrow: our PADI cards, sizes for BCDs, that sort of thing. Took a bit, but we just chilled and talked, they were playing Jack Johnson (a whole album in sequence, very strange) so that was nice. Talked with Nate about music a fair bit. After that I tried to come back up and grab my swim stuff, realized I didn't have the key, went swimming in my shorts. We stayed close to shore but had a good time, lots of wrestling and throwing each other, a few sandball fights (less pleasant, at least in the long run), and the water just felt FANTASTIC after all the sweatiness of being outside on the island. Vince awarded me MVP of the day, I'm pretty sure because I blocked Nikki while three of the guys were trying to throw Kanako and Nikki was trying to help her. I also tried to throw Becky, which ended about when she twisted my finger – didn't hurt too badly (especially after what I'm used to from Sensei), but it got her point about being worried about her two-piece across. Came in after that, went to dinner at the AC Resort, got a dish very similar to what I had for lunch in addition to a strawberry shake and a sprite. The service here is... interesting. Dishes take forever to get to the table, and they come very spread apart, so the first few people served will finish before the last few people get their food at all. The food's delicious of course, but it can be irritating. I haven't been one of the last yet, I order local Thai and I think that helps, but I do feel kind of bad. After that I went next door to the AC Bar to try to get the wireless, not realizing the restaurant was actually where the good wireless was. I had a White Russian at Johnny B's suggestion – it is, in fact, delicious. It's true. So I sipped on that, fiddled with the wireless and gave up. The bartender was a brit I think, not much older than me (21 maybe?), and next to me was a guy, 24, who lived in Oregon and Alaska, he was talking to another Brit who was in her late 20s. They all sort of had their conversation going, I was more on the fringe, but I got some bits in here and there. Politics, parenting and responsibility, 90's cartoon shows, diving, all the really important things in life. Also met a dive instructor named Neal (Neil?) who's been here 16 months now, lives on the island. We only talked briefly, but he was the only one whose name I got, so that's that. I came back up the hill, showed Denny my journal which is woefully under what it needs to be (as expected, but now I have a better idea what to do to fix it), chilled with Matt, Mike, Caitlin, Becky, and Allen for a bit. Unsurprisingly, the conversation tended towards the absolutely horrific, especially some of the worst dregs of the internet. Yes, even worse than what you're thinking of. We came over to class, talked for a bit about class, after that dealt with Scuba Club, and now here I am. Tired. Reading first, but sleep soon, I think.

Monday, January 25th, roughly 8:55-9:05 PM local time