Halloween!

This kid was cracking me up all day

Friday was the Halloween celebration at my school. The three levels of kindergarten got together and had a fashion show to show off the costumes, a scary face contest, play pin the nose on the witch game, and hit piñatas. There were many spider mans, princesses, and some other creative costumes. One kid dressed up to what I thought looked similar to a doctor without his tools but was a Thai spirit hunter of some sort. We had our class practicing trick-or-treating by going to other classrooms around school. In the afternoon, I did a lesson on Halloween and what the holiday really is. I had my class do a worksheet with a connect the dots to make a jack-o-lantern and a haunted house maze on the back. The school tries to have a special activity every Friday and it was a fun transition into the weekend.

Scary Face Contest

Friday night, Jess and I went on a search determined to find pad thai. We went to the night market because there are dozen and dozens of different food stands, so one had to have it. We scoped out what people were eating and found a stand, asked for pad thai (luckly one of the girls there spoke English) and BINGO! We found it! It ties for the best meal I’ve had in Thailand with the pad thai I got in Bangkok. They didn’t have chicken so we basically ordered whatever pad thai the girl said they had, which was pad thai with egg. It was very heavy on the peanuts but still very tasty. I took a picture of the menu and the sign of the vendor so we can have someone translate the menu and also so we can find the stand again next time we go. We walked around a bit and missed the last songtell home since they stop running around 8pm. Luckly, our school coordinator Teacher Joke drove by as we were waiting for a songtell and she easily spotted us and gave us a ride home. Faragns are easy to spot here!

Yesterday, Jess and I explored our surrounding more. We walked down the main street past our school since we’ve never been over there. While we were walking, I spotted a little girl, Dream, whom I recognized from school. She yelled “Teecha Chelsea!” and ran right over. Her mom was full of smiles and I was very surprised that Dream remembered my name. She is in the KG2 class and spotted me doing playground duty one day and marched right up and asked me who I was. I have only seen her once or twice and she’s as cute as could be. Some kids are very shy around new foreign teachers, but Dream is just the opposite. She gave me a big hug and Jess and I were on our way. Some foreign teachers have described almost having a celebrity status here in Khon Kaen. Because there are so few foreigners in my town, people recognize you around town and teachers run into their students and parents all the time. There are not too many places to go other than the markets and mall, so I expect to have the occasional run-ins also.

Jess and I found a small market down the street from our school with lots of fresh fruit. I was able to buy some bananas! I have been on a search for them but have often only found the small bananas. This basically made my day. We’ve also found a restaurant with delicious cashew chicken about a ten minute walk from our house, which we have determined is our “go-to place” AKA “if we are too tired to search for something else, we go here”.

I’m beginning to get settled into a routine and almost know all of the kids names in my class. I’m still getting the hang of the whole teaching thing but hopefully I’ll get it down in a month or so. Even though I’m still homesick, I’m doing okay. :)

A songtell

A tuk-tuk

Teecha Chelsea

I wrote this on Tuesday.

Today was my first day of teaching!  I have to say, I think it went pretty well.  The way the classroom works is different from any experience I’ve had.. there is a Thai teacher and an English (or foreign, faragn in thai) teacher working together.  However, one teacher is specially assigned to each lesson so we end up pretty much splitting the day in half.  My partner teacher is Teacher Kookkai.  She seems to be in her late 20s and is very fun and great with the kids.  I’m very excited to work with her.  Before entering the classroom, shoes are to be removed and left in the hall.  There is a KG building and our classroom is located upstairs.  Our classroom also has AC!

The schedule is pretty similar every day. 

• 8:45 – 9am: Flag ceremony.  All three kindergarten classes and the preschool (so maybe 100 students) join near the playground to sing either the national anthem while two students raise the flag, then do a movement song.  The movement song can be something like “heads, shoulders, knees, and toes” and various Thai songs that involve moving your body.  Today we did a song about a bunny and the kids hopped around with their hands on their heads as ears.  The idea of this is to start the day right and fresh for students and get them moving.

• 9-9:50: Home Room.  This is a general opener for the day.  The teacher goes over the days of the calendar, weather, and some review of shapes, colors, basically anything the teacher wants.  I’ll be doing this time 4 times a week.

• 9:50 – 10am: Milk Time.  The school provides a warm glass of milk for each student.  They do a Thai prayer (I’m not sure if it exactly a prayer, but it resembles something like that) then sing a song to the tune of “Mary has a little lamb” but instead sing “Can I have some milk please, I am thirsty”. 

• 10 – 10:50am: Theme.  This is almost like time for an English lesson time.  There is a designated theme for every two weeks, this week is transportation and next week is planets and sky.  The teacher (who will mostly be me for this time) will go over new and review vocabulary and have a fun/interactive activity planned to go along with a theme.  A song and movement is also encouraged. 

• 11-11:50am: Centers.  This is my favorite time of the day.  The students choose between playing blocks, legos, books, home (like dress up and dolls), and art (play-doh and paper).  There is a certain amount of kids at each center and they basically do free play.  I should be grading homework at this time.

• 12- 1pm: Lunch.  Lunch is served to all students, and teachers.  Again, the students do a Thai chant all together once they sit to eat and I have no idea what they are saying.  The teachers sit at a different table for lunch and I’ve heard that sometimes it’s not the best food.  A few of the other teachers often go to 7/11 for lunch.  Rice is always served along with one of two other dishes.  Today was decent, rice and chicken curry and some egg dish thing.  The cooks specifically lay off the spicy for the foreign teachers.

• 1-2pm and 2 – 3pm: vary everyday from other activities.  Once a week is a Thai, computer, art, swimming, wrap up, math and science, and dance twice a week.  Sometimes these activities will replace center time from the morning.  Second semester (our current semester) has many festivals and an end of the year performance.  Dance class is essential and necessary for them.  Numerous teachers have told me that no one really takes second semester seriously because of all the festivals and holidays.  I find it all very fun and fascinating.  I have also found out that I will be teaching kindergarten math and science every week.  I was a little worried at first but it looks like it’ll mostly be counting, adding and subtracting, and colors.  I think I got it under control and hope none of the kids can out smart me.  Other than math and science, the classes are taught by teacher with a specialty in that area, so hopefully I’ll have some free time in this time.  Our school has great wifi so maybe this is a good time to skype!

• 3 – 3:30pm: Get ready to go.  The kids have another milk break, but this time they drink what they brought from home and receive a snack provided by the school.  The teacher goes over the homework and also goes over what they learned today.  The most interesting part of this time for me is the teachers are to do all of the girls’ hair.  Teacher Kookkai in my classroom is a master at this and puts the girls’ hair in elaborate braids, French braids, pigtails, everything that looks amazing.  I want her to do my hair!  I find this an interesting custom but I guess it’s only done in kindergarten.  It’s a custom of getting ready to go home, I guess.

• 3:30 – 4pm: Playground/Pick up

 Today for my first day, I was responsible for the theme and center time.  For theme,  I needed focus on air transportation.  We talked about helicopters, airplanes, rockets, hot air balloons, and I showed them a whole bunch of pictures of space ships.  I didn’t expect to get questions about the spaceship pictures and more specifically, satellites.  After quickly stumbling to answer satellite questions, I had the kids make paper airplanes.  We folded the paper, colored them, then headed outside to the field to throw them around.  Teacher Kookkai and I had the kids line up to see whose airplane would fly the farthest.  The kids loved it!  I’m so bummed I forgot my camera at home! After this fun, we headed inside where I had the kids get into centers.  The transition went smoothly and I had the kids wear nametags so I could learn their names.  I was sitting with a few boys are the art table, some were playing with the play-doh and two were cutting and drawing on paper.  When they flipped over the paper to the other side, they realized that my picture was on it.  At the end of last week, the KG teachers sent out a newsletter introducing me and I guess they use the extra as scratch paper.  Mathew and JJ got a huge kick out of cutting out my picture, yelling “TEECHA CHELSEA” and coloring the black and white photo with bright yellow hair and peach skin to look like me.  They thought it was the funniest thing to have my picture.  They then moved to something else but yelled my name about every two minutes to show me the new creation they made.

After having a pretty good day, I got very homesick on the walk home from school.  It sounds like the school is already hinting at Jess to stay another semester (year and a half total, so extending our year long contract) and I’m already expecting to be approached with this idea too.  Jess and I discussed the possibility on the way home, which is thinking WAY too far ahead since we’ve only been in the country for two weeks.  The discussion of staying longer eventually made us both feel very homesick.  Everything is so different here, including small things like they drive on the other side of the road and the drivers seat and steering wheel are on our passenger side (it sounds silly but I confuse myself when crossing the street).  The closest gym (which has a total of like 10 machines, nothing like the YMCA or UCSB Ucen) and mall are across town (I’m so spoiled back home) and its strange to be one of the few non Thais in the city (and I’m 99% sure I’m the only Californian around.. representing!).  The heat isn’t bothering me too much yet (but it is their winter right now), but the humidity is driving me crazy.  Finding dinner eat night has almost become a chore which I dread (I don’t have a kitchen, only mini fridge) and being unable to communicate with the waiter at the restaurants often leaves me discouraged.  I feel like I am missing out on things back home and feel very far from friends and family that are very important to me. 

I came back to my apartment feeling down and wondering what the heck I’m doing here, but a few hours later Jess and I went on a desperate search for dinner and more specifically Pad Thai.  We decided to try a sit-down place that we passed on our walk home from school and one of the waiters there spoke broken up English.  We ordered chicken, rice, and vegetables and received exactly what we thought we ordered.  Our spirits were instantly lifted.. we can do this!  I know that I’ll learn to feel more comfortable here, it’ll just take time.  And once I do, I’m sure the year will fly by.

I have also created flashcards so I can learn some Thai.  Jess also has Rosetta Stone, so hopefully we can learn some key words asap.  Friday is the big Halloween festival!  I’ll be sure to bring my camera.

Exploring Khon Kaen

I wrote this on Monday (yesterday).  Recently, I’ve been drafting blogs in word documents to post when my internet is working.

This weekend was my first weekend in Khon Kaen!  We had today off of school (Monday) because of some sort of King holiday.  My friend Jenna came up from Bangkok to spend the weekend with Jess and I since she doesn’t start teaching until November 1^st.  Jenna arrived late on Friday evening, her bus was supposed to get in at 5pm but was 3 hours delayed because of the heavy flooding that is going on south of my city, but she arrived just in time to join Jess and I for dinner with five other teachers from our school. We decided to go to a restaurant that served European food (wahoo!!).  Their menu had everything from pizza to pasta to burgers, definitely a good choice.  I ordered ravioli and French fries, which hit the spot.  My favorite condiment is ketchup, thank goodness they have it here!!

It was nice experience to meet with the other teachers and get the inside scoop on our school and hear their stories of how they got here.  Two of the teachers in their late 30s have been here for about 5 – 7 years, two girls in their late 20s (one from US and one from England) have been here for about two years.  The girl from England was only supposed to be here for only one semester, and went back to England after teaching, but missed it here so much that the school let her come back.  Just one year ago, another teacher who is 23 was in the same exact boat that I’m in now.  He came over to Thailand with the same program and was placed at the Patanadek School.  His contract was to last for the ten-month semester (same as me) but agreed to do one more semester.  In Thailand, the school year goes from May to September and November (or late October) to March (March to May is summer). He said that it was somewhat of a challenge for him to start teaching in the middle of the year, (me right now), and signed on for another semester so his students could start out fresh with a new teacher at the beginning of the year instead of leaving them half-way through. 

After dinner, the three 20-something year old teachers showed Jess, Jenna and I the Khon Kaen night life.  Its very different than what I’m used to at UCSB and San Diego, but it was fun.  Everywhere we went had a live band or someone doing some live singing.  We got a lot of looks because we were the only non-thais I saw all night but it was fun to be in a crowd of our age group.

  

The next day, Jenna, Jess, and I explored the night market, which had dozens and dozens of food vendors, clothing stands, and accessory shops.  I got the BEST chicken kabob I’ve ever had, it had pineapple, zucchini, and the spiciest pepper I’ve ever had (I know now to stay away from this one next time) and covered in a sauce of our choice.  The woman asked us “sweet or spicy sauce??” and laughed when Jenna and I immediately yelled “sweet!”.  All Thai people know that westerns can’t handle Thai spicy.  She dipped it in a sweet and sour terrioky-like sauce and we were on our way.  All three of us also got corn in a cup and were surprised to find that they pour sweetened condensed milk on top and our choice of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla syrup.  It was very sweet and pretty tasty!  I picked up some sliced pineapple to bring back home for the next morning.  With the food and transportation, it all cost me about 3 US dollars!

On Sunday, the girls and I woke up early to check out the big lake in Khon Kaen.  After getting there, we realized that we came too early in the day.  It looked like there was a carnival the night before and that it may open later in the afternoon.  There seemed to be some sort of plant and bird contest going on in a plaza while we were there, but couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.  We decided to take a walk around the lake and even attempted to ride a three person bike.  I wasn’t exactly feeling it (I had trouble getting my feet on the pedals and balancing, I have much longer legs than most Thai people), so it was mostly Jess and Jenna giving it a try.  It quickly warmed up and the humidity magnifies the heat, so we hopped in a cab to go to the five level in-door mall called Central.  The cab driver couldn’t understand where we wanted to go when we said “Central Mall” and tried to show him where on the map.  The mall is so new that it wasn’t on the map, so I think I confused him even more when I was pointing to an empty spot on the map.  He pulled over to a nice hotel and the valet person was able to translate.  Once we got there, this mall was heaven!  There is a Billabong store, a huge department store called “Robinsons”, McDonalds, a movie theatre, bowling alley, Starbucks, and various other things!  I will be going here at least once a weekend!

We decided to get Sizzlers for lunch since again, we were craving American food.  We sat at a table at the window and again, got numerous looks, points, and waves from the various people walking by.  I’ve learned to just smile back and they get a huge kick out of it.  Jess and I shopped for some teaching-appropriate tops and found some in various colors.  They are collared shirts but kind of non-attractive.  To make matters worse, Thai people are SO tiny that nothing smaller than a large would fit.  I bought both a pink and green since we have days at school where the teachers are encouraged to wear certain colors.  I have accepted the fact that I won’t be finding any more clothes or shoes for me here, what I brought is basically what I’ll have for the next year!  After shopping, we went to Swansen’s for dessert, ice cream with bananas and chocolate syrup in a huge cone for only 55 bahts (1.50)!  I’ll be going to the mall just for this place.  They have numerous ice cream sundae choices and banana splits.  I am ecstatic!  There is also a very large super market there with some international snacks.  I splurged and got some nutella, bread, and cookies (mom, I miss our chocolate chip cookies so incredibly much!  Store bought will have to do for now), it feels like a little taste of home.

I know I have mentioned my apartment in a previous post, but I’ll get into more details. It is actually pretty nice.  My apartment building is only a few blocks from Khon Kaen hospital, an easy landmark to refer to when lost.  I have made a collage out of my pictures and put a few maps up on the walls for decoration.  I also got a new comforter for the bed and although its still rock hard, its more comfortable than before.  My gecko friends keep me company and my AC is mostly working.  It has been acting up a bit but keeps my room cool enough.  I have found a TV station with Law and Order and Criminal Minds in English so I’m feeling right at home.  Jess is literally right next door so it is nice to have a friend close by to venture out looking for lunch and dinner together.  We are on a side street right from the main street and it takes us a minute and a half to walk to 7/11 and we are right on the songtell and tuk-tuk path.

Today, we ventured out for lunch and I was a little discouraged in the difficulty in finding something that looked tasty (I’m more picky here than I think I’ve ever been, that may be a good thing).  Many places we walked by look like mystery meat on a stick or literally an entire cooked fish.  I love the pad-thai noodle dishes but couldn’t find any vendors or open restaurants with it today.  I usually try to go to the restaurants with the picture menu so I can just point and smile and hope for the best.  I was ready to turn around to go home to 7/11 to find something there but Jess insisted we try to just sit some place and give it a try (thank goodness for Jess, I would probably live at 7/11 or not eat if I didn’t have her!).  As soon as we sat down, a Thai woman came up and smiled and asked “chicken and rice?”  We were ecstatic. “Yes!  Chicken and Rice! Perfect”.  I think it was the best chicken and rice I’ve had the whole trip, she brought out different sauces for us to try with it.  I’m learning to appreciate the little things like those two words, chicken and rice.  I really should learn how to say them in thai. 

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching!  I’m nervous/excited and hope the kids like me (and listen to me)!  I can’t wait to get into a routine.  I feel like I’ve been here for a month but reality it is only been two weeks, and I know this is just the beginning!

Pictures!

Here is a link to some pictures I've taken.  Check them out!  :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068295&id=1054560056&l=0b3e88e521

Khon Kaen

Keeping up with my blog is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be, especially since neither of the hotels I stayed at had free internet and now the internet in my apartment only works when it feels like it, mostly late at night. Here is the update of my life since I last posted. ( I apologize for this being so long!!)

We had five full days of orientation classes to learn more about Thai language, teacher training, Thai culture, visa information and travel advice. Some days, we had 6 hours of class and my brain just couldn’t absorb anymore due to jet lag/tiredness. Here are some main things I learned that stick out in my mind..

• Thai 44 constants, 22 vowels, and 5 tones, making it VERY confusing

• Thailand is about the size of France

• It is not appropriate to touch the head of another person, unless they are a child

• Thai people are very sensitive about feet, they are almost viewed as the lowest part of the body and can be disrespectful if one points their feet at another. You never touch money (the king is all over paper baths and the coins) with feet or point them at another person. In order to avoid this, people are to sit like a mermaid when sitting on the floor

• sawatdee ka = hello (speaker is female). Sawatdee krop = hello (speaker is male)

• cob khoon ka = thank you (speaker is female)

• Thai people eat with the spoon in the right hand and fork in the left just as a tool to push around the food to the spoon. No knife! Eating is more of a challenge.

• the king has been ruling for 64 days, speaking against him can lead to jail time!

• Thai people have VERY long names and go by a shorter nick name.

Bangkok Night Market! (Me, Jess, Jenna, Liz, Olivia, Chelsea)

Fish Nibbling

One night of orientation, a group of girls and I decided to take a cab to the night market in the heart of Bangkok. There were so many things to see and about 100 different smells from all the street vendors we passed. After grabbing dinner at a restaurant that blasted western pop music like Katy Perry and Usher, we decided to take a break from walking around and grab a drink at a place that had mostly outdoor seating in the front, but also had a tub with the fish that nibble on feet to take off the dead skin (sounds really gross). The deal was you could put your feet in for five mins free for every drink you bought. Boy, was it an experience! It was quite uncomfortable for me and I could only stand having my feet in for about five mins or so. It was a cross between a tickle and pin-prick. I don’t need to give it another try, unless its free.

Our program organized an overnight trip for all participants to go to Kanchanaburi, about three hours away from Bangkok. We took two double decker buses and made a stop at the bridge over the River Kwae on the way. It is still in use and we were able to walk across it to the other side. In my opinion, walking across a bridge like this would not be allowed in the states because there are huge gaps leading straight into the water on each side of the tracks, so you basically walk directly on the train tracks or can stand on a little side platform. After eating dinner at a floating restaurant looking over the bridge, we made our way to our resort, which was beautiful! I wish we could have stayed here for more than one night. The people working there were so kind and even opened up this mini club-like area they have which is normally used for karaoke. It was Egyptian themed so the inside has black-lights so the hieroglyphic paint on the walls light up neon. Once again, American pop music was blasting and many songs on repeat (Lady Gaga!). There was a small outdoor area too with ping-pong and places to sit. They seemed very prepared for 80 Americans in their 20s to arrive.

Elephant trekking with Olivia!

At 8am Tuesday morning, we went to an elephant camp close by and were able to ride the elephants. My friend Olivia and I hopped on one and the man guiding us took us off the path at one point in search for a certain type of leaf. He spoke little English and often repeated a lot of what we said which ended up being things like “ahhhh ooooh myyy goooosh!!!”. We were very uncertain why he wanted these leaves, which we later understood when he handed us hats he quickly made out of them. He encouraged us to jump off the seat and both sit on the neck of the elephant while he walked along side, which wasn’t the most comfortable ride, but amazing to say the least. At one point, Olivia dropped her leaf hat and the elephant stopped. The man said something to it in Thai and the elephant used his trunk to pick it up and handed it up to Olivia! It made me realize how intelligent these huge animals really are, and it astounded me! I want to visit another elephant camp before I leave Thailand. We also went bamboo rafting after, which was more of a “sit on seats on a raft made of bamboo and leisurely float down the river”. It was still fun though ☺

After these amazing excursions, some of our group got picked up at Kanchanaburi by their school coordinator since their city was closer to there than Bangkok. The rest of us took the three hour bus ride back to Bangkok. Most of that group would have their coordinators waiting at the Bangkok hotel to take us to our school. A handful of us, including me, still had an enormous journey ahead. Because Khon Kaen is so far from Bangkok, our coordinators had us take a bus to the city instead of coming to pick us up. Me and three other girls were placed in or around Khon Kaen, so OEG (overseas education group) bought us our bus tickets and organized a van to take us to the bus station. Once arriving there, we got many looks from the locals, clearly stunned by how much luggage 4 girls could carry. We ended up having first class bus tickets (wahooo!), which felt almost like an upper class plane ride. The seats fully reclined and even had a massaging button. It was very comfortable and it’s going to be challenging for me to not do first class if I’m taking an overnight bus somewhere in the future. We left Bangkok at 11pm and were to arrive at 5am, but arrived an hour late because many of the streets were flooded because of the heavy rain. At one point, I woke up to a very bumpy ride because we were on a dirt road. I wasn’t very sure what to expect at the bus station as to who was picking us up because our school coordinator was unable to attend the orientation dinner that OEG set up. At this dinner, the coordinator is to have dinner with the teachers they have chosen and give details about the school, schedule, accommodations, age and level of students, etc.. so I was very stressed out when it wasn’t our coordinator we met at this dinner. She had sent her best friend that lives in Bangkok since she couldn’t make the 6 hour trip to meet us. The best friend was VERY nice and drew us up a map of Thailand, but knew NOTHING about the school. I am very much the type of person who likes to have a plan, so I had a few days of high anxiety because of the uncertainty of what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be living for an entire year. However, when we arrived at the station, an older woman who speaks excellent English greeted us (4 american girls were easy to spot at the bus station). She explained to us that she had founded the Patanadek School thirty years ago and is now retired but still helps her daughter run it when she needs her. Her daughter, Joke, soon arrived to take us to our new apartment. Me and my friend Jess, who I met at orientation, were placed in the same school so it was very comforting to know I would have a friend near by. It turns out, they got us neighboring apartments! On the drive to the apartment, I got many of my questions answered, such as what grade I’m teaching and when school was to start. Most schools in Thailand start November first, so I was VERY surprised to find that our school has already started! Joke said that we start early so we can get 2 weeks off for Christmas. We arrived to our apartment, and having heard horror stories from my other friends that made it to their accommodations around Thailand before we did, I tried to have low expectations. As soon as I saw a normal toilet and air conditioning, I was pretty satisfied. One of my friends is having to share a TINY room with another teacher when they were told they would have their own. Another friend from orientation says her apartment feels like a jail, concrete walls, dirty, and a hole in the ground for a toilet. Although the bed is seriously as hard as a rock and I have a few gecko friends living in my room with me (they remind me they are still here by chirping every hour or so), I’m very lucky. My apartment (which is more of a studio apartment.. one room for sleeping/living including a bed, table, mini fridge, and TV, and a room for the bathroom) is a very short songtao ride away from my school. I have a 7/11 around the corner and street vendors down the street. Life is good.

I have already been to the school for the past three days to observe and learn the schedule. There are about 12 other western teachers there, most have been there for 5 years or more! There are two girls that live in my apartment building that originally were to only stay a semester or two, but fell in love and have stayed for the past two years. They claim they are finally going home this March, but who knows? I am the youngest western teacher in the whole school! I got placed in a kindergarten classroom, which is exactly what I wanted. When another teacher gave us a tour of the school, he pointed out that our school has a nursery and I asked the nursery teacher if I could come in sometimes to just hold the babies! I might have sounded kind of creepy, but I explained that I love babies so much and would love to come in sometimes. She said I was very welcome to come in any time.

The Patanadek School was founded in 1977 by the woman who picked us up at the train station, her name translates to “big mama”. Patanadek translates to “child development” and every classroom has both a Thai teacher and English teacher. I was VERY surprised by how good the English of my class is! There are three levels in the kindergarten department; KG1 (age 3-4), KG2 (age 4-5), KG3 (age 5-6). I am in KG3 in classroom B and many of the kids have been at the school since KG1. The school is a private school so very well off children in Khon Kaen go here, some even travel up to an hour each way! Like a mentioned above, Thai people go by a shorter nick name, and some are just a kick. I have a Kiwi and two boys named Boss in my class. There is a set of twins at the school named Cake and Crème, and another called Cinnamon. I love looking at the roster of names for the students. My school is very hands on and their moto is “Our school is comfortable like home. Our teachers are caring like parents.” My favorite part about the school is I can wear any shoes/sandals I want because you must take your shoes off before entering the class. All the teachers and staff I have meet at the school have been extremely helpful, friendly, and welcoming. The KG coordinator created a news letter today to introduce me to the parents, and I have already had a parent come up to me after school today to ask me about where I’m from because he heard I was from California. I told him I went to school in Santa Barbara and he told me he went to Calpoly Pamona and that he hadn’t spoken English in ten years. Again, he told me how much he appreciates that I’m at the school and I think he was excited I was from California. I definitely get a family feeling from my school, the teachers even go out and take trips together. There are many festivals and holidays at the school this semester, and I can’t wait to see what they are like. There is one in November where all the teachers need to dress up in traditional Thai attire. I’ll have to find a dress somewhere! I am very lucky that this is the school I am teaching at. The kids are so excited to meet me and so many have ran up to me asking “WHATS CHOO NAAAME?!” Thais have a very hard time with the CH sound, so many of the kids have trouble pronouncing my name. But I give them an A for effort.

Even though I am a bit homesick, I realize how lucky I am to be here. I plan to do a lot of exploring this weekend and the teachers are taking Jess and I to dinner tonight. I start teaching on Tuesday! TEECHA CHELSEA!

Me and my Thai-rrific Friend

My School!

My Classroom!!  KG3B!

My Thai Children!  (Well, this one is half Thai)

Sawatdeeka!

Well, I made it to Bangkok!  Here is the quick update.

The flight.. I flew out of LAX with a short layover in Hong Kong, then to Bangkok.  Me and my friend Jenna, who I met at UCSB, were able to coordinate a flight together and actually sit together too, which made the 16 hour flight so much more enjoyable!  Jenna actually told me about the CIEE program and had encouraged me to apply when I told her I was looking into teaching abroad after graduation.  If she hadn’t told me about this program, I might not be in Thailand right now.. Thanks Jenna!! Our flight went very smoothly, other than it was gruelingly long!  After going through the passport check in Bangkok, Jenna and I went to baggage claim to find our luggage.  Most of our flight had already picked up their bags so there were only a few bags left on the stall, including Jenna’s, but mine was no where to be found.  After waiting a few more minutes (and beginning to attempt to figure out how I could make a pair of pajamas, shorts, and a charger football t-shirt that I packed in my carry-on last as long as I needed), I asked a woman that worked at the airport where my luggage might be. I originally thought maybe it didn’t make it on the plane since my huge red suitcase was a few pounds over the 50 pound limit and LAX didn’t charge me for this, but instead told me that on the way back to the states to put my luggage into two bags instead of one.  She asked if it was red and told me that another passenger grabbed my bag on accident but had already returned it to her office.  PHEW!  One bullet dodged.

Our hotel… We then went to meet our program to take the shuttle to our hotel.  It turns out, our hotel is on the way outskirts of Bangkok.  Its kind of in the middle of no-where with a street filled with street vendors and motor bikes.  The first night here, I got a ziplock bag full noodles for 25 bahts (less than a dollar).  Our hotel doesn’t have free internet so I’ve been going to an internet station that says “Internet Playstation” on the front.  The people using the computers there are either some of the 80 participants from my program or young Thai boys playing violent playstation games like Call of Duty.  It only costs 5 bahts (15 cents) for 25 mins so it’s a great deal!

The food.. Our program has been feeding us breakfast at the hotel everyday, which has a variety of rice, cereal, fruit, and even omelets!  I’ve had an omelet and rice every morning, and was ecstatic to find that they have ketchup!  The Thais eat family style, so we’ve had a huge variety of Thai food served for us at lunch.  For dinner, a group of girls and I have been adventuring into the surrounding area.  Last night, we went to an open restaurant looking place and ordered what we could on the menu and what arrived looked nothing like what we thought we ordered.  The language barrier becomes much more prominent at meal time.  But the food is very inexpensive, so I’ve been trying to not be too picky.

The weather.. I was told it would be hot and humid, but boy, its VERY hot and humid!  I haven’t even seen the sun yet since I’ve been here and it hasn’t dipped below 80 degrees.  Its been very most and even wet and rainy.  I’m going to need to start being creative with my hair.

Orientation... We have a packed schedule of language classes, culture classes, teaching classes, and excursions.  Today, we went to the Grand Palace in Bangkok!  Tonight, we meet our school coordinators and I will get all my questions answered about what the heck I’m doing here and where I’ll be living.  We go to a new hotel on Monday to a location where we do some elephant trekking and bamboo rafting.  Tuesday, I am off to Khon Kaen!  I’ve met a lot of awesome people at orientation and we’re starting to make travel plans for the long weekends and breaks.

I’m eating, have my luggage, no longer have much jet-lag, and not sick!  So far so good! 

 This little statue statue reminded me of Milo Boo!

 I made some friends!

One Week Countdown!

In one week, I will be on my way to Thailand!  I don't know much about my soon to be journey but here is what I do know.

• I fly out on Oct. 12 at 1:20 AM from LAX and will arrive in Bangkok two days later
• I will spend a week in Bangkok for orientation with my CIEE program
• I will be teaching at the Patanadek School in Khon Kaen (north east province in Thailand), a private elementary school
• I'll be teaching English
• I will be there from October 2010 to September(ish) 2011
• I have two months off for "summer" from March to May!  I'm planning to travel then AND would LOVE visitors/travel buddies!!
• One Thai baht = 3 cent... 30 bahts to the dollar.

Here is what I don't know

• Where I will be living.. the school does those accommodations for me and I just got placed in an apartment called the "Khongthong Apartments".  It claims to have air conditioning but that is basically all I know about it.  Will I have roomies?  No idea!
• What I will eat. I'm picky but I like noodles and veggies, and for my well-being I hope they have desserts.  I'm also thinking of going vegetarian while I'm there.
• Thai.. I should learn a word or two before I go. I'm planning to buy a Thai language book/dictionary
• What to pack.  I've been told to not over pack but anyone that knows me knows that that will indeed be a challenge. I practically over pack my purse for a trip to the grocery store.  I'm doing a ton of shopping this week.

And yes, I'm starting to freak out!  I'm nervous but also really excited.  It's going to be an experience of a lifetime!