110%

This past week has bee pretty great! Probably one of the best I’ve had in Satun so far! I visited a few new food places and had some good dinners, my water got shut off so I had to go find a shower elsewhere, I met some new people, had a few beers, and just took things slow!

Most of my classes went swimmingly and even my really devilish P3’s were exceptional and very well behaved. I think their Thai teacher put the fear of god in them because they were so good it was eerie. Everyone participated, we got through the vocab, they all understood it, and then we played two games and it was great! It is amazing that when they listen and pay attention we get stuff done AND still have time for plenty of fun! (I made sure to say that too them, so we will see how this week goes!)

Besides school, I had a pretty eventful week! On Monday, 5 other teachers and myself went to a Teaching Seminar in Songkhla. It was so nice to get out of the city for a day! The seminar I attended was a glorified TESOL course. We went over lesson planning, warmers (activators) and how to do production activities. It was interesting to get another perspective on teaching and I got to hang out with some pretty cool people!

(My fellow teachers and I hanging out on the beach in Songkhla)

After the seminar, we all went to the Songkhla mermaid and posed with her. Then we went and found some cool street art and then got some delicious ice cream and sticky rice! We also had fried egg chip things and balls of fried fish (which I did not eat). Overall, It was a wonderful day and I had so much fun!

This weekend I went o the street market on Saturday night and had a delicious noodle chicken combo for dinner and then a fruit ice smoothie thing for desert. The market is always fun to walk around because it is so big and there are so many vendors selling some pretty cool things! I bought some cacti! Afterwards, I met up with some friends at a local hang out and showed everyone how poor my pool game is.

(Cool Teecha Brina taught the kids something funny!)

Sunday evening, I went and played badminton and once again showed everyone how terrible my hand-eye coordination is! Really, I suck at sports, but I’ll try and give 110%! But it was a ton of fun and I really enjoyed playing! So that was a great way to end the weekend and start my week off! And I learned today that two of my classes are cancelled, so more time to prepare and lesson plan! Whoo!

Leeches and Spiders and Lizards, Oh my!

Well, another week down!

Only an infinite amount left.

So my second week went much like the first. I tried to teach, most of my methods of teaching and classroom management failed, I made a fool of myself, I realized how oblivious I actually am, I had some fun, met some new people, and started to not take things too personally. So overall, it was a better week I guess. Oh, and I learned that sleeping at my desk will most likely become a daily thing! (I zonked out for at least an hour on Wednesday because I was so tired!)

Those P3 kids are still just so difficult to handle, but I figured that after a few more classes they will know more of what I expect and the style of teaching I have. It doesn’t help that I spend half of the class just getting them to be quiet and listen, so I have NO idea what they are actually learning. It’s going to be a shocker when I give that first test!

(This is one of my P4 classes)

My other classes are going good. I’m having fun, so that’s what counts right? Most of the students are well behaved and there’s always one or two kids in each of my classes (besides the hellian P3 classes) that help me reign in the other crazies because they actually want to learn. They also help me explain the activities to the students who don’t quite understand. This is extremely helpful and I am so appreciative for their help when I’m floundering trying to explain something in English using pictures and gestures. Regardless of this, I still get loads of blanks stares and “mai kowjai” (I don’t understand) comments.

In other news, I had some fun adventures this week! On Saturday, we went to the Yaroi Waterfall, which is pretty close to the Thale ban National Park. It was so much fun! We go and park our scooters (and I showed my travel buddies how shitty of a driver I am by almost running into a rock wall attempting to park) and then start on this trail to see the waterfall. After 200 stairs, the “designated” trail ends and we go hiking through the jungle to get to the higher pools of the waterfall. After a few leeches that were burned off and some spider’s webs and spiders attacking us, we finally made it to the pool. It was lovely! The water is not super clear, but it’s fresh mountain water and was SO refreshing! You could go up right underneath the falls and it felt amazing. This was by far the highlight of my week and a great way to relax and let off some steam.

The drive was also spectacular! It took about 30-45ish minutes to get there by scooter, and yes my butt was so sore after that drive.  There were brightly colored mosques littering the highway, interesting flora and fauna, and mountains everywhere! It’s like God was playing a game of marbles on a global scale and just decided to leave the ones that landed in Thailand wherever they fell. Really though! There are random limestone cliffs shooting up everywhere. It’s one of the wildest things I have ever seen. We also had some fun driving and at one point I swear we crossed into Malaysia because we went down this sketchy dirt road, passed what looked like a military station of some sort, and then navigated crappy roads for about 20 minutes before turning back. But we made it back! And just beat the rain!

Not that beating the rain really means much because it’s rained everyday this week and more often than not, I end up coming home soaking wet and leave pools of water wherever I go in my apartment. Joy. But now I have invested in a rain poncho so maybe I can avoid the soaked to the bone week I am sure is to come.

All in all, I am starting to enjoy Satun. At first I was reluctant to embrace this place because I wasn’t very happy here. I was lonely, knew nothing about this place, had no friends, and felt like I was way in over my head. I’m not gonna lie, the thought of leaving and going home crossed my mind more than once these past few weeks. But that is NOT the kind of person I am. Whether I’m happy or not, I will persevere because that’s what I do. So I guess it is a good thing I’m happier now huh? I’ve met amazing people who have really helped me to feel comfortable and welcome here. I am so thankful for that and having people to talk too and hang out with is such a nice perk!

On a lighter note, my bug bite count is now in the hundreds! And with all the other random bruises, scrapes, and other various boo-boos, let’s just chalk it up to a fulfilling Thailand experience! Till next time.    

I can see Malaysia from my backyard

(Like my Palin-ism right there!?)

Thank you baby Jesus this week is over! It has been one filled with learning (mostly on my part), stress (all mine), and lots of laughs (mainly AT me). Teaching English as a language in a school has proved to be the most difficult endeavor I think I’ve ever undertaken.

I was given loads of course books for the 11 different classes I see twice a week of both grammar and conversation, and told to “figure it out” in terms of their language abilities. Boy howdy did I figure it out. Some of my classes can’t speak a lick of English and nothing sticks, while others are so proficient, I feel like their grammar is better than mine! The spectrum of English is so varied that it can be hard for me to keep up and remember which class is as what level.

The English Program building at Puri is a Castle!

7:15 am, Monday

I arrived at Puripornchai bright and early, ready to start my career as a teacher! But instead, we had a “teacher in-service” day. Students came to school for camps and clubs, but I didn’t actually teach. I did however, introduce myself to the entire school and I’m pretty sure everyone was thinking “who the heck is this crazy falang” (falang=foreigner). Great. But I did get three weeks worth of lessons planned! So yay!

7:22 am, Tuesday

First day teaching! But I had the whole morning off, so what did I do? Nothing. I printed some stuff, drew some stuff, shuffled my papers a LOT, and trolled the internet for song ideas. Finally the time had come to teach! I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready!

…those kids ate me alive

All of my P3 (ages 8-9) were horrible. Low English proficiency, would not listen for anything, didn’t understand directions, and were so loud that talking over them only made me hoarse. I became mean teacher Bri and moved a few boys, mastered that death stare, and nixed games entirely. I’m sooooooooo excited for those classes next week (if you can’t tell, that sentence is oozing sarcasm).

But then, it’s a miracle! The English Program kids are amazing! They are so fun and respectful, not to mention that their English is very good and even those who struggle ask for help and want to get better! “This is what teaching really means!” I thought, “sticking through the bad to see those silver linings”. I know I can do this whole teaching thing! It’s just a matter of time before I really get a grip on my new role.

Yeah then you know the rest of the week went by in a flash and I pooped out pretty quickly!

Chillin' on the beach just admiring the view! It's raining in Malaysia, but sunny in Thailand!

Now in other news, let’s see what all happened this week…     

• I was called pregnant and fat (the first by a student and the second by some dude at a bar) IN THE SAME DAY! Great confidence booster there.
• I have been soaked to the bone from driving in the rain twice this week (and it has rained every day this week). I could literally wring out my clothes when I got home.
• I made some new friends, all of whom are very down to earth and fun to hang around. We did a BBQ on Saturday night and it was DELICIOUS! Best food I’ve had here in Satun so far!
• I went to the beach (or what passes for a beach here)! It was really cool though because from where we were on the western coast, you can see the islands of Langkawi, Malaysia on the left and the island of Koh Tarutao, Thailand on the right with just a small strip of water in between! How wild is that?! 

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!

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!

And so it begins...

This was by far the longest and most draining week I have experienced in Thailand. We started on Sunday, so that we would have enough time to prepare and practice for the English camp we would be working at on Thursday and Friday. We started our TESOL instruction and learned about classroom management, teaching styles, TESOL theory and effective teaching methods.

Our instructors, Justin and Jessica, are phenomenal and have provided us with so much information and feedback about how we can be the best teachers and how to adapt in the classroom. Their lessons have been insightful, thorough, and nerve wracking! Not gonna lie, I’m freaking out about the fact that I will be teaching English and that feeling of distress has only grown. I was really nervous to begin with, but now that I will be finding out my placement as early as tomorrow… AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Photo Credit: James Levin

I could be placed anywhere in this country with a variety of accommodations, and hearing everyone’s stories has forced me not to have any preconceived notions of where and what I will get. Whoa.

But, I have been enjoying myself. I have had some amazing experiences, have made some great friends, and have learned so much about myself and what I want out of my life. I have already learned that this is not what I expected at all, and that it is dumb to go anywhere and do anything like this with a picturesque idea of hanging on the beach teaching perfect little Thai children English and having fabulous days everyday. The reality is that I will be in a school, god knows where, most likely with no aircon and sweating buckets while teaching little hellions how to say “happy” and “sad” and whatever other lessons I make up.

All I can say is that I am so beyond happy that I made the decision to take the TESOL course here in country so I was able to acclimate myself to not only the heat and humidity, but the rigors of teaching English when no one understands what you are saying.

Oh, and I went to this super beautiful cave called the Phraya Nakhon Cave. One of the kings of Thailand had a temple built underneath a naturally formed skylight and it is, in a word, enchanting. It was in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park (meaning “three hundred peaks”) and it was quite the hike to get to, but totally worth it! These kinds of experiences are why I came to Thailand, and the thrill of them is why I am glad I have stayed!

Stayed tuned for my placement update!

Good Morning America!

Well it's night for me, but morning for you all... I'm still working on this time difference thing!

Thailand has been such a whirlwind learning experience for me thus far, and it can only continue! After my 26 hours of travel, I finally arrived in Bangkok- the capital city and the largest city in Thailand. I was overwhelmed! There was so much happening and so many sights, smells, sounds, and people EVERYWHERE! (For those of you that know my Pamplona story, Bangkok might have it beat!)

While in Bangkok we (some girls who were on my flight from Tokyo to Bangkok) had heard about some cool river boat tours so thought that would be an awesome way to see the city! So we hopped on a Tuk Tuk thinking we were going to the main river boat hub... not so. 1. We got ripped off by the drivers and paid WAY too much and 2. they took us to their buddies on a weird little boat who in turn ripped us off by not doing the tour we all thought we signed up for and paid too much for! Whatever. So the tour was nice, it was cool to see the city by boat, the water was icky brown, blah blah blah. We get off at a market, look around and then go find Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This was the highlight of Bangkok for me! Is was so cool and the Buddha itself is like 40 meters long and 15 meters high! HUGE! and the Wat (Temple) was gorgeous! Leaving was another story. We thought we were getting a good deal from this van driver, but we shoved 8 girls into a taxi van! We were shoved in so tight, I didn't think the door was gonna stay closed! I've never been so cramped in my life! We literally fell out when we opened the doors!

Day 2 in Bangkok was a failure. We never found what we were looking for and ended up giving up after a couple of false directions and went back to hang out in the hotel pool. That night we had our Xplore Asia orientation meeting, met the group of people we would be with for the next month, and lickity split hopped on a bus to Hua Hin the next morning!

Hua Hin is GREAT! I like it here so much better than Bangkok! It's much more relaxed, it's a smaller city, and the beach is here, so that's cool! Our first week was jam packed full of excursions and introductions to TESOL theory and Thai language and culture.

We went to a Muay Thai gym (Thai martial arts/ boxing) and learned the basics with some very experienced and fun instructors. We went to a pineapple farm and got to see them growing and ate some freshly picked goods. Visited an elephant sanctuary! I about died from joy! These creatures are so amazing and they were all so loving! There was this baby girl elephant named Song Kran who was born April 13, 2008 (We share a birthday!) who would play soccer and hug you! Ah it was just too cute! Then we went to a Temple and were blessed by a Monk who also dabbles in magic and other religions. Finally, we visited Xplore Asia's non-profit, Rescue Paws. This group focuses on combating the stray dog population in Hua Hin and get these dogs back to good health and snip the boys so that they stop producing litters of dogs doomed for the same fate. If you're interested (which you should be!) Go to their Facebook page and check the out! the link is below:

https://www.facebook.com/RescuePawsThailand

The Thai Language and culture lessons are great! "Thai language is easy!" as our instructor Pear loves to point out! And what do you know?! Thai is easy! Kinda... There is one verb tense- present, so that's real nice after learning Spanish which has about a thousand various tenses, so this is a nice change! The only problem is that Thai is a tonal language, so say the word "maa" wrong and you could be talking about riding a HORSE on the beach, or a DOG on the beach! Fun stuff huh? But slowly I'm getting it! I can do simple greetings, counting, and a few other simple phrases. I'm sure that once I'm placed in a Thai town where it is very possible I'm the only Westerner, I'll pick it up much faster!

Yeah so placement is starting to amp up! We had our initial meeting already to discuss what we want, are hoping for, or expect, and have our second meeting this week, where we could already have some job offers! Scary stuff! I decided to chuck any preferences I had and just go with whatever they gave me. It all works out in the end right? Doesn't help the fact that I'm shitting my pants a bit about this whole process! But I think I'll become more comfortable with the idea that I'm actually going to be teaching English in Thailand... Taking the TESOL course here was the smartest decision because we get real world application and practice before being thrown to the wolves.

So long post. End. I had a crazy first week here in Thailand and cannot wait to see what the rest of my time in Hua Hin brings!