Synonyms with Satun

Well, I’ve been here in sleepy Satun for one week now, and have had some very interesting experiences already! Despite the slower and more relaxed lifestyle, Satun is very interesting! It is peaceful but vibrant with culture and bustling with activity. Because of the many different cultural influences, there are no shortages of things to see. There are countless churches, mosques, and temples, not to mention the many different places to eat, shop, sleep, and hang out!

My week has not been languid and I come every night tuckered out from my day of exploring and learning about my surroundings. So far I have visited three temples, seen about 5 different and very beautiful mosques, visited the Satun National Museum, been to 2 bars (there’s not a whole lot of options here), driven and crashed on a scooter, moved to a new apartment, have made more trips to Big C than I care to admit, visited my school to get my 9 different books, and have thoroughly gotten lost for about 4 hours wondering around! All in all, it’s been one heck of an adjustment period!

I have met a few people here though, so that’s nice! I’m renting out an apartment from this amazingly helpful Thai woman named On (who owns a very popular western hangout and is featured in almost all the travel information for Satun), so On and her husband are both great! I’ve met some fellow teachers in the area who are very nice and helpful since I’m the newbie, and some guy who recognizes me from my walking around and has chatted with me on multiple occasions, and now shouts out “Hello kruu!” (kruu=teacher) whenever he sees me. I’ll make more friends, eventually, so I’m not too worried about that yet.

Tomorrow is my first day of school. Oh crap.

I’m kinda freaking out and am really nervous. Despite having some lesson plans and games in my back pocket, I don’t feel prepared and am really interested to see how my first day goes. But really, this whole week will be “first days” because I have 11 different classes that I will see throughout the week. Stay tuned for my teaching sob story about how I’m not adequate enough to be a certified teacher!

So the real work begins, or maybe the fun does? I guess I wont know until I have this next week under my belt, but either way, I am going to be in for one heck of a shock tomorrow!