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)