A Quick Turn Around

So originally, I was supposed to go to a town and province of the same name: Chaiyaphum. Lonely planet describes Chaiyaphum as a place where "you're almost as likely to run into a tiger as a foreign tourist- and this is not a province known for tigers". So that's a comforting thought... NOT!

And then everything changed last minute.

In the last week of the course, I found out that my placement got cancelled and the Placement team at Xplore Asia was working tirelessly to find me a new placement. Great. After about 36 hours, I found out that I would now be placed in the deep south, in a province and town called Satun. Satun is mountainous and forested and is a small town, roughly 30,000 people and is described as a "sleepy" little place, where tourists stop by on their way to the islands or Malaysia (I am a stones throw away from the border). The islands in the Andaman Sea are part of a Marine National Park and are very popular for diving and snorkeling! The most famous ones are Ko Tarutao, Ko Adang, Ko Rawi, and Ko Lipe.

(It's that little red province down South and on the West coast)

Bangkok is 940 km north of Satun, and from where I ma in Hua Hin, it will take me 12 hours by bus to get there. I leave tonight at 9 pm to arrive in the morning to meet with my agent and start the search for housing! So wish me luck!

(Mueang Satun is my city and it's the red dot in the middle)

But anyways, about my school. I will be teaching in a very respectable and prominent Private school in Satun and will be working with Primary grade kiddos (ages 6-12). I think this will be a great fit and I am so excited for this move! It will be weird and hard at first (not to mention lonely) but I will make the best of it like I always do! I'm so excited to start my teaching journey!

In other news, I GRADUATED! We completed the 120 hour TESOL certification course and had a graduation ceremony on Thursday to receive our teaching certificates and say goodbye to our amazing teachers! My instructors, Justin and Jessica were amazing and super helpful throughout the course. I learned so much and feel more than prepared to deal with the rigors of teaching English in a Thai classroom.

Well, that's all for now! It's been a hectic week and it will be a busy next few days! Till next time!