Oh Happy Days

As you all know I'm still on Ko Tao getting certified scuba diving. The dive course is going good so far. I finished all my academic work yesterday

including the final written test and passed, and I did all the confined dives demonstrating skills in the pool. Today I'll be going out in the boat for my first Ocean dive. I'm really excited since the scuba here is supposed to be some of the best in the world, of course any tropical location you look online tends to say that.

Stacy, one of the Australians I met on the way here, told me when she was scuba diving here last once and that she saw a whale shark. I know they have been seen here a lot, but I'm not sure if right now is the season for them to be here, fingers crossed though.

It was really nice after the class work I had today that I ran in to the Australians again. I had forgot to get there facebook information when we talked on the ferry so I wasn't sure I was going to see them again, but low and behold I did. Of course the populated areas of Ko Tao is small so I guess I was probably bound to run into them.

We all went to dinner and then just watched the sunset at various

bars and restaurants on the beach. I was happy to see that I can still make friends pretty easily out of my comfort zone.

Most of the time when I make friends it's because we work together or are in some situation where we'd have to talk to each other at some point. In Bangkok I didn't meet too many people, and I think was a little nervous because I was out of my element and wasn't sure how to start conversation, but it's nice to see that as I get more comfortable with traveling that the good social skills I thought I had are still present.

After my dive today I'm supposed to meet up with my new friends for

dinner. It's Stefan's birthday so we'll see how crazy that gets, but so far I've loved every minute of my stay on Ko Tao. I'm pretty sure the majority of my trip will be beach stays. At least that's how I see it right now. I'll let you all know how everything goes today. I have to dive today and tomorrow and then I'll have my certification. After that I'll spend a couple days on Ko Samui and then fly back to Bangkok for a night and then head to the Philippines to meet friends and do more diving. I hope all is well with everyone reading, and I'll talk to you all soon.

Ko Tao, Thailand