Welcome to "Fantastic Fridays"!

In order to encourage myself into a weekly blogging routine, I decide to start  “Fantastic Fridays!” where I’ll share with you some of the good things that happened to me throughout my week. My inspiration? While I was the TA for the Wellness (ED 191 W) class at UCSB, which focused on being balanced, positive, and proactive as well as other life skills that enhance well-being, we often referred to the article Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions.  The authors focus on three psychological interventions that increase individual happiness and decrease depressive symptoms. 

Which brings me to, the “three good things in life” journal!  As instructed in the study, I have been trying to keep a three good things journal for months and months, and finally I’ve been sticking to it!  Every night before I go to bed, I write down three good things that happened to me each day and a brief explanation/ cause of each.  Awesome things are happening to me all the time, everyday, even in between the bad and stressful things that happen.  It’s easy to ruminate on the things that didn’t go well (got my blood taken at the hospital today due to new work permit regulations.. I HATE needles!  Kids were running amok, Thai people staring/glaring on our morning ride to school); we are usually much more unpracticed at remembering the good things and savoring them.  So I’m changing that about myself!  The study shows that keeping a gratitude journal can increase happiness,  and also shows that people who kept the journals felt better about their lives and are more optimistic as well as make progress towards important personal goals.  With that said, why not keep a three good things journal!  And why not share some of my weekly highlights in Thailand with you! 

Interested in the other two interventions? 

• Writing a gratitude letter/gratitude visit: write a letter to express gratitude to someone who has done something important and wonderful for you, yet who you have not been able to properly thank.  Then, deliver the letter personally and spend time with the person talking about what your wrote.

• Using Signature Strengths: Take the test on VIA Signature Strengths to identify your signature strengths.   Using your top strength in a new and different way every day for a week has shown may make people lastingly happier.

Okay okay, on to the good things!

•  Last weekend, a group of kids performed in competition at the small mall next to my apartment, Saturday was the tug-of-war and Sunday was the cheerleading competition! I was able to run over there and see my kids wave their pom poms to Madonas “Like a Virgin” and the popular club song “Boom Shake Drop” by Pitbull. They did amazingly and it honestly brought tears to my eyes, I was SO proud of them! They ended up getting third place overall and won 3000 baht (almost 100 dollars). Watch the video and see for yourself what my five year olds can do after skipping class every afternoon for a week to practice.

• When I first arrived in Thailand, I had a really hard time with the food. I was very stubborn and Jess basically had to order food for me and force feed me.  Well, that is definitely not the case anymore because I’ve discovered what I like! I’ve been trying to cook in my room more often and have attempted to cut out meat from my diet, so I now cook tofu! I also try to not use dairy, so I use soy milk!  The meat and milk here really weird me out.  BUT here is one of my favorite dishes, Som Tam!  It’s a Thai spicy salad made from unripened papaya, tomato, lime, peanuts, fish sauce, and plum sugar. This is one of my favorite Thai dishes, I get it every Monday after tutoring at the mall and Jess and I learned how to make it at our Chiang Mai cooking course. My som tam this week was especially delicious!  Free of dried crustaceans and no spicy pepper, just the way I like it.

Fiona and I in our IV days!

• In about two weeks, I have two weeks off of school and I have had a solo trip through Malaysia and Singapore planned. I was really looking forward to traveling completely solo for a few weeks for the first time (expecting a mini "Eat, Pray, Love" adventure, yada yada), but I just got word that I have a friend joining me!  Another one of my Gaucho friends, Fiona, is spending some time in Australia traveling and visiting family before she starts grad school in January.  Her Aussie roadtrip ends just about the time that my semester break starts, so the timing is perfect!  She’s going to fly from Australia and meet me in Singapore, then fly back with me to Thailand after Malaysia where we will meet up with another Gaucho friend for a few days!  Fiona is so awesome and I know she’ll be the perfect travel buddy.  I’m MUCH more excited for this trip now, traveling solo is cool but traveling with a friend is even more fun!  (Mom is also really relived that I wouldn’t be running around Malaysia solo for two weeks anymore.  If it had been the original plan, I bet she’d be sitting at the computer white-knuckled for two weeks!) Its Fiona’s first time traveling SE Asia and I expect us to have an amazing adventure!

•  These kids are always making my day

TGIF!

Countdown until October break: 14 days!!

Thai Animal Sounds

During Special Class last week, I read the kids the book "Old MacDonald". They always get a kick out of how the "farang" animals make different sounds than they do in Thailand. Example, frog in America says "ribbit ribbit" and in Thailand says "awp awp". Heres a short video of my kids making the Thai animal sounds!

Weekends On-The-Go!

This semester has less holidays and long weekends than the last one, so I try to make the most of my time off! I now tutor six of seven days a week (not Friday because I have gate duty at school) so I never have a full day off. I do enjoy being busy though, and the extra cash is always nice.  I have had three long weekends though, so here is the gist of them!

In June, two of my good friends from UCSB, Casey and Emily, backpacked Thailand for six weeks! I played hooky for a day and was able to meet them in Bangkok their first day in the country, and we zipped off to an island that I went to back in December called Ko Samet. We were able to meet up with our other UCSBer BC, and Jenna was there the same weekend as well! Gauchos took over the island!!!

Five Gauchos!

Ko Samet!

Later in Casey and Emu’s Thai journey, they were able to get off the tourist trail and experience real Isan with me in Khon Kaen! They just so happened to be here for the 4^th of July (which also happened to be the same weekend as Thailand’s elections, meaning bars, restaurants, and clubs were closed for the entire weekend as well as a ban on the selling of alcohol). It was SO amazing to have them here and I didn’t realize how much I missed my friends and home. They reminded me that I have SO much to look forward to and SO much to come home to. THANKS CASEY AND EMU!

Chocolate covered banana at the Chatuchak!

Buddhist Lent: Bangkok! For our four day weekend in July, Jess and I spent a day in Kanchanburi to see the famous Seven Falls (seven tiered waterfalls), then spent three days in Bangkok.  Bangkok mostly consisted of being a lot of farang food (Mexican, Hardrock Café, Subway.. anything good we could get our hands on). But we also went to Bangkok’s famous Chatuchak Market, one of the worlds biggest street markets.  Every Saturday, this huge arena/parking lot thing is filled with thousands of people, food stalls, vendors, and huts selling everything from art to animals to purses to clothes to incense to watches.. EVERYTHING and its seriously HUGE! Anything you could ever imagine is at this market. We spent a few hours strolling around and Jess bought numerous souvenirs to bring home in October and I bought a purse to use in the real world.  We visited the Jim Thompson house, a museum in Bangkok. It is a complex of various old Thai structures that the American businessman Jim Thompson collected in from all parts of Thailand in the 1950s and 60s. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand.  Then of course, we spent our last night in Bangkok wrecking havoc on Khao San Rd., the backpacker hub of Bangkok. Overall, it was a great weekend get-away.

Waterfalls in Kanchanburi

Queen’s Birthday/Mothers Day: Three day weekend in Chiang Mai! I love love LOVE Chiang Mai and haven’t been back since Songkran in April.  Jess and I took the 12 hour bus ride and arrived in Chiang Mai bright and early on Friday morning. The first thing we did was go up to Doi Suthep, a temple up high on a mountain that over looks the entire city of Chiang Mai.  After, we went to the farang used book stores (I picked up the next three True Blood books.. YEEES!), ate some AMAZING food (Mexican and farang), and did a full day Thai cooking course.  We spent all Saturday out on the farm where we cooked a seven course Thai meal.. EACH!  Each participant made their own appetizer, stir fry, noodle, curry paste and curry dish, soup, dessert. I made papaya salad, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, massaman curry, som tam, and mango with sticky rice.  All pretty tasty and now I can make Thai food back home (hopefully)!  I spent Sunday strolling the famous Sunday Night Bazaar with Jenna, Katie, and Bradley, two girls that teach at the same school as Jenna! I’m so glad that we were all able to meet up and spend parts of the weekend together.  The night bazaar was AMAZING, I’ll definitely be going back to Chiang Mai to buy all my gifts and souvenirs here!  More handmade items and crafts, much nicer than Bangkok. Now that I know how easy it is to get to Chiang Mai, I expect to be going back a time or two more while I’m in Thailand.  Jess and I were very tired for school on Monday (and an hour late since our bus arrived back to Khon Kaen Monday morning), but our Thai teachers held down the fort until we arrived.

Doi Suthep

Out on the farm!

Making Papaya Salad

I love long weekends :) and thank GOODNESS there are like ten next semester!

Things That No Longer Phase Me

I’ve been in Thailand for over ten months now, and I’ve come to realize there are a number of things that made my jaw drop when I first arrived that no longer have that effect.

Motorbikes

What I used to think of as a dangerous toy, is now a way of life. With multiple functions!

• A means of transporting a family of 1,2,3,4,5,6...the possibilities are endless! Two grown adults, a teenager, a newborn, and the dog on the same bike! And not a single one of them wearing a helmet. Who needs a car seat or seatbelt when you have.. nothing. Mom is often driving the motorbike with one hand and holding the baby with the other. Or Dad driving with the toddler standing between his legs.

• Thai people are very comfortable on motorbikes, so comfortable in fact that the people sitting on the back multitask. As well as hanging on for the ride, they can eat a bowl of rice, text, read, or do homework, all at the same time (helmet free of course).

• Wearing a skirt? You better side saddle it!

• Interested in having a mobile restaurant? Of course! Just hook on a grill and drive around town looking for hungry customers. Easy as hook and ride!

• Need to move anything? Heavy bag of rice? Furniture? Buckets of vegetable? Its as easy as 1,2,3.. load it on the motorbike!

• My morning tutoring job on Sundays picks me up at my house. I was shocked when I saw that Mom was picking me up on her motorbike for our first session, with no helmet for teacher! I still get a little nervous, but now, I look forward to sitting on the back of the bike every week and its normal. (Don’t worry Mom, it’s a very short ride and she drives extra careful with Teacher Chelsea on the back. Uh oh, I guess I should prepare for a lecture on this one).

Thanks Google!

Again, Google.

This is a little extreme, but I wouldn't doubt it!

Honking

Cars, songtells, motorbikes, and tuk-tuks are always honking their horns. The horn has a very different meaning here than in America. Back home, you lay on the horn in frustration and anger to say “YOU *&%$#!*&!!!!” In Thailand, they use the horn to say a friendly “Hey! I’m here on your right.” Or “hey, need a ride?” While standing out on the street, I hear constant waves of honking horns and I’ve gotten very used to it.

Your name is whaaaat?

Punch. Dream. Gun. Premier. Title. Fifa. Kungfu. Radar. Monkey. Boss. Words I picked out of a hat? Nope, names of my students! Other kids at my school include G-Force, Disney, Tomcruise (one word), Pot, Pretty, … Bizarre celebrity baby names no longer seem so far-fetched.

Bugs

Pre-Thailand, if a fly or ant had been on my dinner plate, I would have pitched the meal and would have rather been hungry than to eat it. In Thailand, bugs are unavoidable and I’m constantly being bitten my mosquitoes if I don’t wear repellent and have even gotten a few ant bites. So a fly on my rice is the least of my worries. I shoo it away and continue eating. Normal.

Photo Flash: Pictures

Every once in a while (more so while traveling), someone will ask to have their picture taken with us, and I have gotten very used to this happening. Whats weirder though is when they take candid pictures of us out and about. At least give me some warning so I can give you my good side! I always wondered what they did with these pictures.. show them to their friends saying “Ha, look at these farangs!” maybe? Recently, the founder of my school informed Jess and I that she came across our picture on the internet, someone had snapped a candid photo of us while in a public bus/mini van on the way to see some waterfalls in Kanchanburi last month and posted the picture on their blog. Strange? Yes. The fact that my head boss came across it on some random Thai blog.. even stranger. So strange in fact that I should have expected it.

80-20 rule of understanding

I’ve been here for over ten months, and I still only understand about 20% of what is going on around me, being left clueless for the other 80. I am pick of the gist of a conversation, but for the most part, I’m pretty much in the dark about whats being said. Along with me not understand much of what’s going on, the 80-20 rule may also at times apply to my students. So we have a mutual understanding of not understanding.

Feelin hot hot HOT

Its hot and humid, ALL THE TIME! Rainy season, cold season, hot season, it all feels the same to me, hot, hotter, and even hotter. I wont bring home any of the clothes I’ve been wearing here and my hair is unmanageable. I’ve come to accept the fact that while I’m in Thailand, I’m always sweating and my hair always going to be more of a mad-scientist style.

L = N

T. Chelsea: “Dream, what did you do this weekend?

Dream: “I go to CentrAN!”

It used to drive me crazy, but now I even call Central Plaza mall “Centran”. I’m not exactly sure why, but Thai people often pronounce the “L” as the “N” sound. My student Title spells his name T-I-T-L-E but it is pronounced “Titan”, which is a cooler name anyways. Pineapple is pineappun. The girl I tutor on Monday in fifth grade spells her name Gal Gal but we call her Gun Gun.

Magical White Powder

I often arrive to school in the morning and instantly greeted by a dozen or so white-powdered-faced children.  Did they get in a fight with a sack of flour? Nope, baby powder to absorb the moisture and beat the heat! I've even grown accustom to this trick and often splash a little of the magic white powder on myself while running out the door to stay fresh.

Ice in Beer
I'm still not a fan of this one.  But its hot. It makes sense. Cool your beverage down with some cubes of ice. Better that than warm.


Yeeep, this is my Thai life. 

Thai Food and Bieber

Tonight, my Thai friend invited Jess and I to dinner at her house.  She prepared an amazing Thai dinner for us, massaman curry (because she knows I love that curry dish), a tofu and pine nut dish, spicy pork, and a pork stew.  Pat is a teacher at the university and invited seven of her students to join us so Jess and I could meet some Thai students our age.  One of the girls spoke excellent English because she lived in New York for three months earlier this year through a work study program at Khon Kaen University.  Even with the little Thai that I know and the little English the other girls knew, we were able to relate on a few key topics.

• Harry Potter.  Jess asked if they liked it, and they were so excited and told us they saw the movie already.  Personally, I’m not too into Harry Potter, so I asked them if they liked “Twilight” (I LOVE Twilight) and the girl next to me looked me in the eyes and said “You like werewolf or vampire?” “OOOH, werewolf!!”  They are vampire fans, of course. Because of the pale skin and everything.

• The girls asked what state Jess and I were from. When I tell them I’m from California, the girl next to me breaks out in “California Girls”.  Katy Perry is constantly giving me an instant reputation and standard to live up to.

• The Biebster.. Justin Bieber. They love him!  “Eeenie Meenie Miney Mo, what does that mean?” I had a fun time explaining the Justin Bieber’s lyrics of “Eenie Meenie“ and how it’s a children’s game in America, but the meaning of it in the song.

• Boys. Apparently they think Korean men are more attractive than Thai men, because they supposedly get a lot of plastic surgery to be better looking.  They also think Captain America is VERY handsome.

We continued dinner with some more pop culture, Taylor Swift, and other celebrity gossip.  Note: If you’re not sure what to talk about with a young Thai adult, bring up either a. Justin Bieber. Or b. Any other celebrity/pop hit song, I guarantee they know more about them than you do!

Breaking News!

After getting resettled back in Khon Kaen and into my school routine after having two months of traveling, I was faced with a new unexpected decision.  Jess and I often enjoy fantasizing and discussing our ideas about the places we want to go and the things we want to do when we’re done with Thailand and we both realized that this time was nearing.  I use to think I only had two options, go home to California or go somewhere else.  But then I realized that I had another choice, to stay in Khon Kaen.  It was an option I never even considered considering but here I was at the beginning of the semester, actually thinking about it.

From the very first day of school, my Thai teacher T. Nim, would at some point during the school day say to me “Teacher Chelsea, stay one year!”  At first I’d laugh it off and say, “I don’t think so T. Nim.. I miss my friends and family.”  She was very persistent with presenting the idea (but never in a pressing way, just making it clear that she thought I should stay).   

The next week.. “Teacher Chelsea, stay one year!  I get you A LOT of special class, make A LOT of money then can go to America.”  I’d respond with “Maybe T. Nim, not sure. Need to think.” 

The following week.. “Teacher Chelsea, stay! Good for you and good for kids!” "Maaaaybe T. Nim, maybe." She could sense I was caving in.

Finally after a few weeks of bringing it up, I told T. Nim after lunch.. “Teacher Nim, I want to stay one year.” T. Nim squealed with delite, she was ecstatic and rushed to tell the other teachers. She basically single handed talked me into staying another five months.

So you may have already heard but its true.. I decided to commit to another five months to finish the school year.  Instead of coming home in October/November, I’ll be coming home in March/April.  This decision was a very tough one for me, I made numerous pros and cons lists weighing many different options, I talked to numerous friends and family members and of course had lengthy conversations about it with Jess, who had already booked her flight home in October.  I was beginning to get very overwhelmed and anxious when thinking about what to do after Thailand, then with the thought of if staying longer was right for me.  My body began responding to this stress by breaking out in not one but TWO fever blisters (that’s often how my body responds to stress and also when my immune system is weak), as well as different colds/infections that I needed to make different trips to the pharmacy for.  After I sat down with the Head of the English Program and committed to teach the second semester, it was like a weight was lifted.  Its funny, I remember when I first arrived, two girls that were teaching at my school said they had been teaching here for two or three years. My instant reaction: my jaw dropped and I thought to myself “WHAAAT?! Why?! Khon Kaen for three years? That’s just crazy”. Now here I was, making the commitment to stay longer.. but I’m leaving in March, I promise.

At first I thought I made this decision just to put off “real world” and to prolong the decision of “whats next?”.  But I had many other factors play into this decision.

One: I’ve grown very attached to my kids! I can’t imagine leaving them half way through a school year to a brand new teacher, I feel like I would be abandoning them. I care about all my kids so much, I have a GREAT group this year and I think they are the cutest/smartest/funniest Kindergarteners in all of Thailand.

Two: My Thai teacher.. T Nim is AMAZING! We teach more as a team than two separate teachers. I know I wouldn’t be staying longer if I wasn’t with T Nim. She’s an amazing teacher, she is very patient, warmhearted, generous, and very creative with her teaching methods. She helps me be a better teacher by constantly giving me new ideas of how to teach. She very fun to work with and is even helping me out with my Thai! I couldn’t be happier in the classroom! Plus, she brings me surprised about once a week, sometimes with fruit (she gave me half a watermellon on Friday), snacks (she knows I like ham sandwiches), and bracelets from a Thai town she visited on the weekend. Yep, she's amazing.

Three: Special Class.. T Nim sure stayed true to her word and has hooked me up with LOTS of special class (special class is just another word for tutoring). I’m making practically double what I made last semester and will get a raise for staying over a year next semester.  I’ve made myself a budget and I’m hoping to be able to stick to it and come home with a little money, as well as have some extra money to do some traveling in October, Christmas, and March.  If I were to come home in October like originally planned, I would come home with a big empty wallet.

Four: Travel! I’ve been to most places that I want to go in Asia, but I would like to do Malaysia and maybe another country.  When’s the next time I’ll be in Asia after this teaching experience? Probably not for a while, so may as well go to as many places as possible!

Five: Various things.. Khon Kaen International Marathon in January! I’d like to get PADI (scuba diving) certified here, do more Thai islands, learn more Thai, and I’m looking to create some sort of community service project.. still brain storming ideas on that one but hopefully I’ll find something!

Six: This is a special life experience and why not stay an extra four months! I’m happy here, I like school and I love traveling. Plus, I’d rather come home when its warmer (rather than cold winter!).  Life is easy here, everything I need to can buy at 7/11 (bus tickets, pay for flights, stamps, credit for my phone), I’ve gotten into the swing of school, and I really have no worries or stresses here, other than how to make my hair work in this humidity. Since I’ve done second semester already, I know that its SUPER easy.  We have many long weekends and of the five and a half months, I have 6 weeks off (2 and a half in October and 3ish at Christmas).  I’m feeling really good about the decision to stay, I feel that its right for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I miss home SO much! I miss Mexican food, having a kitchen, cheese, working internet, baking, walking the dog, driving a car to work, watching the news in English, shopping for cute clothes and having it actually fit, Taco Tuesdays, American sports, couch time, Trader Joes, exercising outside, listening to music on the radio, normal weather, normal human interactions (normal American interactions I should say.. culture is different here so people interact differently), the Pacific Ocean, blending in, and of course my friends and family!! I’ve officially been in Thailand for nine months and I know one thing is for sure, my friends and family will always be there for me to welcome me home with open arms (and hopefully a burrito in one hand and a margarita in the other).  I wouldn’t have made it this far without all of your support and encouragement and I think I have the most amazing friends in the world! So thank YOU for being a positive influence in my life even when I’m across the world, I love getting emails/messages/facebook notifications/ picture comments/ blog comments/skype calls from friends and family, it reminds me that you’re thinking of me and that I have amazing friends/family and support system. And although I’ve made the decision to stay longer, I am extremely looking forward to my epic return in March/April… California better be ready for me by then!

PS. I know where I'll be for the next eight months.. visitors are welcomed and encouraged! :)

I love these faces

Back to Khon Kaen!

PHEW! I’m finally caught up on my blog after two months of being back in Khon Kaen!

KHON KAEN UPDATE!

My Class: The school year in Thailand begins in May and ends in March (meaning their summer break is a few months earlier than ours, March – May.. that’s when its hot season here), so we just started a new semester! I’m physically in the same classroom as I was last semester, but I have a different Thai teacher and new kids. My Thai teacher has been working at Patanadek for a number of years and is so warm and friendly.. I LOVE working with her! My kids are great, not nearly as rowdy as my class last semester and I love coming to school everyday. I have 26 kids in my class, 15 boys and 11 girls.

"Smile, T. Chelsea's Special Class!"

Tutoring: Along with teaching every weekday, I decided to pick up some extra tutoring jobs to make a little extra money. On Mondays, Jess and I take a brother and sister from grade 3 and 5 to Central Plaza for an hour and a half to practice speaking English. Its really a sweet deal, Jess takes one kid while I take the other and we often go to grab dinner (which the kids treat us to), and go to the book store. No worksheets and no need to prep, just conversation! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I tutor at the school. The school sent letters home at the beginning of the semester asking if parents were interested in having their child learn English for an extra hour after school with me and three other teachers. They had more students sign up this semester than ever before so the classes are move overcrowded than usual. I have nine or ten kids each session and I try to make the classes fun by starting out with a movement or song (Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, ect), milk break provided by the school, then a game, and finish with an easy coloring worksheet. Some days are rougher than others, the students generally sign up for two days a week so I get a different combination of kids every class. Of course the days with my trouble makers are more of a challenge and an extra hour of school is difficult for some students to handle. On Sundays, I do more tutoring both with students I had last semester, so they are in grade 1 now. On Sunday mornings, JJs mom picks me up on her motorbike and drives me to their shop. The family has a bedding shop near the night market and across the street from a high school, so JJ and I go study at the school. We work on workbooks and worksheets but I always try to bring at least one game. On Sunday afternoons, Tan’s mom drops him off at my place and we decided what we want to do for the next hour and a half, walk to central or play games, whatever we want to do. Tutoring is sure keeping me busy but I love having extra one-on-one time with the kids, its a lot lot of fun!

Wai Kru Day: Wai Kru (“wai” is the Thai respect bow and “kru” means teacher) ceremony is a Thai ritual in which students pay respects to their teachers in order to express gratitude and is held at the beginning of the semester. My Thai teacher helped my students make footed trays out of flowers which were presented to us teachers at the ceremony. The ceremony began with a Buddhist prayer and followed by the students’ recitation of the Wai Rru chant, which expresses respect and gratitude to the teachers and asks for the teachers’ blessing in their studies. After, a representative of each class presented the teachers with an offering of flowers, candles, and joss sticks arranged on the pedestalled trays. It was a special day and I felt very honored and respected as a teacher!

This semester is FLYING by but I’m loving every minute of it!