today i went to thammasat university campus- the one i studied abroad at. and i went to thai boxing practice today and it was a lot of fun. the coach was really happy to see me and then there were other thai boxers that remembered me from 2 years ago. so that was cool. so i hung out at the thai boxing gym for quite a while, working out and talking to the thai people. then i ate at the school cafeteria called the 'canteen'- which is actually a really awesome tasty and cheap place to eat. and i had one of my favorite dishes and my favorite coffee.
then i went shopping at some of the markets nearby and i found a lady making jewelry and through a mix of english and thai and drawings i told her how to make my favorite thai necklace that i lost a while ago. so i am going to go pick it up tomorrow from her. that's fun that i can get a customized necklace for 5 dollars without bartering.
these next few weeks i have to test the kids on what they learned this semester. that will be fun, im not sure what exactly my plan is yet but i will figure it out. the school hasnt told me what they want me to test on exactly so i guess i get to make it up. i have to write assessments for each of the 100 kids i teach. which'll be fun.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
30 minutes
I'm at school and I just finished with my 7th class of the day, phew. I kind of had to wing it because the copy machine decided to stop working, and well... i had procrastinated lesson planning for the After School Club, but i'm getting better at winging stuff- that's what makes a good teacher i think- being able to make up activities on the spot and keep the kids busy. :) Mondays are long days. This last 30 minutes that I have to be at school always lasts the longest. It's like, I don't know why I have to stay until 4:30, when I'm done at 4, sometimes I'm done at 2, but I still have to stay til 4:30. AND the clock that we clock in and out of at school is SLOW- so I really leave here at 4:45pm every day. The post office closes at 5pm, and that is the reason I am slow to send out postcards, because it's nearly impossible to get there in time.
Today is the Chinese New Year, which they celebrate here because there are a lot of Chinese and half-chinese half-thai people living here. Last chinese new year i spent with my thai friend Kwang at her parents house and did the family thing which was really cool. this year i stayed at my town and they had a HUGE market with all kinds of foods, produce, cooked foods, bakery food, and all sorts of products from clothes to plants to dinnerware to perfume. I bought quite a bit of stuff. something really cool for dad! they didnt do anything at night though, there were some fireworks during the day. but from what i have heard and read, this chinese new year was really lame. not as many celebrations and stuff because of the economy being bad.
K time to head home!
Today is the Chinese New Year, which they celebrate here because there are a lot of Chinese and half-chinese half-thai people living here. Last chinese new year i spent with my thai friend Kwang at her parents house and did the family thing which was really cool. this year i stayed at my town and they had a HUGE market with all kinds of foods, produce, cooked foods, bakery food, and all sorts of products from clothes to plants to dinnerware to perfume. I bought quite a bit of stuff. something really cool for dad! they didnt do anything at night though, there were some fireworks during the day. but from what i have heard and read, this chinese new year was really lame. not as many celebrations and stuff because of the economy being bad.
K time to head home!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
i have 1 minute to update this...ready go!
Ok, last weekend i went to Sukhothai which was the first capital of thailand during 1200's-1400's-ish. It was very beautiful- the nature surrounding the old city ruins as well as the ruins themselves. it reminded me a lot of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I took a night bus there and left bangkok at 10pm and arrived in sukhothai at 5:30am and then took a bus to the historical ancient city. then i rented a bike and biked around the old city in the historical park- everything was very spread out, and it was very cool to get there early in the morning and see the sun rise and beat the tourist crowd. i then took a evening bus back to bangkok and arrived the next day.
teaching is going well and i am getting prepared for examination period, i have to test all of the kids on what we learned this term and turn in evaluations for every 100th kid in the school on their english skills. i have to write up a report on each kid and give them 'marks' on their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. that will be interesting. i barely know all of their names! but i will make it work. okay. i have to head out of school im going shopping in bangkok today!
teaching is going well and i am getting prepared for examination period, i have to test all of the kids on what we learned this term and turn in evaluations for every 100th kid in the school on their english skills. i have to write up a report on each kid and give them 'marks' on their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. that will be interesting. i barely know all of their names! but i will make it work. okay. i have to head out of school im going shopping in bangkok today!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
inside thai life in my town
this might be a long entry. fair warning. its wednesday which means i dont teach, i just hang out at the school all day. so i have ample time.
a week ago i was exercising in the park and a thai girl came up to me and introduced herself in english and said she wanted to practice english with me, so we did and kept bumping into eachother at the park and talking. then she invited me to play Takraw (thai traditional sport which is like volleyball only u cant use your hands) with her and her friends yesterday. so i met them and played, and they were surprised it was my first time playing and told me i was really good at it, but its a lot like juggling a soccer ball so i was used to it. there were a lot of people playing Takraw at the park so i felt like a local. we were speaking in thai and in english. then we stopped at a stand and got fresh coconut juice.
then they invited me to dinner with them- thai style, where you share everything like at thanksgiving dinner. so we sat outside on the sidewalk at a restaurant and ate the usual grilled fish, spicy papaya salad, sticky rice, tom-yam-kung soup, but then they had other different stuff that i hadnt ate before they had a squid salad, and some part of a cow, and liver, and pig intestines- i didnt know what it was until after i ate it- there was a language barrier and then they pointed to the part of their body and i knew it was intestines. yuck. but everything was super spicy- even for the thai people. and the only thing they bought to drink was heineken. (the way they drink beer here is with ice in it and a straw p.s.) and so i kept drinking and drinking the heineken trying to get the spicy burning out of my mouth. and as usual with thai style dinners, the oldest person always pays for the whole meal- and i was by far the youngest one there, plus i was a guest. but i always feel like a mooch when they pay for the whole meal. but thats the thai way.
then they invited me to go to karaoke with them at a bar nearby, because the thai people love their karaoke. so i decided why not. i told them i wasnt going to sing, but they made me sing anyways. i was quite the spectacle, singing in a tiny karaoke bar in a small town. all the thais wanted to practice their english with me and have me sing every english song- mostly oldies music. so i finally agreed to sing a maroon 5 song, because they are quite popular there. then i was singing some thai songs with my new friends as the night went on- they were impressed that i could sing some songs in thai. but at the karaoke bar again it was more heineken, and every time a glass would be half full, the waitress or one of my new friends would fill it up again with more beer and more ice. it was an expensive night but again i didnt have to pay for anything because the eldest always pays, which is crazy. the beer bill alone for the karaoke was 960 baht!
then we left the karaoke bar together and they all walked me back to my apartment and told me i had to come play takraw every day at 6pm with them from now on so we can practice thai and english and takraw. haha. it was a fun night.
a week ago i was exercising in the park and a thai girl came up to me and introduced herself in english and said she wanted to practice english with me, so we did and kept bumping into eachother at the park and talking. then she invited me to play Takraw (thai traditional sport which is like volleyball only u cant use your hands) with her and her friends yesterday. so i met them and played, and they were surprised it was my first time playing and told me i was really good at it, but its a lot like juggling a soccer ball so i was used to it. there were a lot of people playing Takraw at the park so i felt like a local. we were speaking in thai and in english. then we stopped at a stand and got fresh coconut juice.
then they invited me to dinner with them- thai style, where you share everything like at thanksgiving dinner. so we sat outside on the sidewalk at a restaurant and ate the usual grilled fish, spicy papaya salad, sticky rice, tom-yam-kung soup, but then they had other different stuff that i hadnt ate before they had a squid salad, and some part of a cow, and liver, and pig intestines- i didnt know what it was until after i ate it- there was a language barrier and then they pointed to the part of their body and i knew it was intestines. yuck. but everything was super spicy- even for the thai people. and the only thing they bought to drink was heineken. (the way they drink beer here is with ice in it and a straw p.s.) and so i kept drinking and drinking the heineken trying to get the spicy burning out of my mouth. and as usual with thai style dinners, the oldest person always pays for the whole meal- and i was by far the youngest one there, plus i was a guest. but i always feel like a mooch when they pay for the whole meal. but thats the thai way.
then they invited me to go to karaoke with them at a bar nearby, because the thai people love their karaoke. so i decided why not. i told them i wasnt going to sing, but they made me sing anyways. i was quite the spectacle, singing in a tiny karaoke bar in a small town. all the thais wanted to practice their english with me and have me sing every english song- mostly oldies music. so i finally agreed to sing a maroon 5 song, because they are quite popular there. then i was singing some thai songs with my new friends as the night went on- they were impressed that i could sing some songs in thai. but at the karaoke bar again it was more heineken, and every time a glass would be half full, the waitress or one of my new friends would fill it up again with more beer and more ice. it was an expensive night but again i didnt have to pay for anything because the eldest always pays, which is crazy. the beer bill alone for the karaoke was 960 baht!
then we left the karaoke bar together and they all walked me back to my apartment and told me i had to come play takraw every day at 6pm with them from now on so we can practice thai and english and takraw. haha. it was a fun night.
Monday, January 12, 2009
package in the mail
mom and dad sent me two packages in the mail- full of american food that i miss. mmm. one came last week and one arrived this week. the one that arrived today had salsa, tortillas, black beans and peanut butter in it. but one of the salsas had broken in the box and got all over the other stuff in there- it was a big mess, and smelly, and moldy- yuck.
on another note i had my first unsuccessful trip. me and my friend fred tried to get to an island to go to a full moon party, but long story short we travelled the whole 4 hours (almost 8 hours for me since i came from bangkok) to get to a town where we could get a ferry to the island. but we came 12 minutes too late! we missed the only ferry to the island that day. so we couldnt go. it was sad. so we had to stay in the land town for the day and night and just come back to bangkok the next day. it is sad to go all the way there and not be able to make it. we were just a ferry ride away. sad.
well today a thai woman who i see exercising while i am running a lot is going to teach me how to play takraw- the thai traditional sport. it should be fun. im so exhausted after my k3 class though. they are so bad. and then i walk 3 miles home, then i run 5 miles and then i will play takraw. then im going to try to go to the mall after dinner if i have energy.
on another note i had my first unsuccessful trip. me and my friend fred tried to get to an island to go to a full moon party, but long story short we travelled the whole 4 hours (almost 8 hours for me since i came from bangkok) to get to a town where we could get a ferry to the island. but we came 12 minutes too late! we missed the only ferry to the island that day. so we couldnt go. it was sad. so we had to stay in the land town for the day and night and just come back to bangkok the next day. it is sad to go all the way there and not be able to make it. we were just a ferry ride away. sad.
well today a thai woman who i see exercising while i am running a lot is going to teach me how to play takraw- the thai traditional sport. it should be fun. im so exhausted after my k3 class though. they are so bad. and then i walk 3 miles home, then i run 5 miles and then i will play takraw. then im going to try to go to the mall after dinner if i have energy.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
failed trip
well this weekend i went down to the resort town of Hua Hin to visit a friend named Fred who is also an English teacher. then we decided we wanted to try to go to the full moon party in Ko Phagnan, but long story short we took a bus down to the town where we catch the ferry... 4 hours away. and we had missed the ferry by 12 minutes. so then we were stuck in Chompon town. so close but so far away from the full moon party and the island. but we made the best of it and stayed the night there. then we took trains back in the morning, for me it was about 9 hours of a train ride. starting at 6:40am. then i had to get two buses to get to my apartment and hung out downtown for a bit. now im tired and have to get ready for school tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
wow! it's been a while
For New Years break I had to go to Laos for a visa run to get a new visa. I had to take a tourist tour van there because my school waited too long to tell me that I needed to go to Laos- they changed my visa. It was an expensive trip, but I enjoyed Laos. I would go back definitely. We stayed in Vientiane, the capital city, which was very small and very laid back-much more than Thailand. it was interesting mingling with all of the other foreigners. the tour paid for our hotel and food and transport which ended up i think cheaper than if i had went alone. i shared a hotel room with a girl from the philippines who was nice. i walked everywhere in the city to see the sights because it was small and because i like my exercise. on one of my walks a monk approached me in a temple and he wanted to practice his english so we talked for a while walking around the temple. it was fun. he invited me to go to a new years festival with him, but i couldnt.
the bad part about the trip: the lines. we arrived at the thai border at 5:20am and had to wait there for 3 hours and then we arrived at the lao border and had to wait there for 2-3 more hours. then we had to go wait at the thai embassy for 2-3 hours in lines in the heat. everything was so inefficient it seemed.
new years i spent in thailand alone because all of the buses were full to go anywhere and i didnt have time to travel before new years since i did the lao visa run. so i went to central world mall downtown where they had their big ball dropping countdown for the new year. i was amazed at how many people were down there. it was crazy, and dangerous because people were packed in so tight with not enough access to water or an exit even. people were passing out/fainting all around me and i almost did too. it was so hot and so packed and i was so dehydrated.
now im back at school. tomorrow is 'Sport Day'. at school which im not sure what that entails, but i guess they're gonna play games all day. i dont have to dress up, yay! maybe i get to play soccer with them even. fun!
well this is my update for now. oh yeah, and a kid from wesleyan arrived yesterday early in the morning 1am, and i picked him up at the airport and he stayed at my place and then i sent him off to thammasat- i miss thammasat.
the bad part about the trip: the lines. we arrived at the thai border at 5:20am and had to wait there for 3 hours and then we arrived at the lao border and had to wait there for 2-3 more hours. then we had to go wait at the thai embassy for 2-3 hours in lines in the heat. everything was so inefficient it seemed.
new years i spent in thailand alone because all of the buses were full to go anywhere and i didnt have time to travel before new years since i did the lao visa run. so i went to central world mall downtown where they had their big ball dropping countdown for the new year. i was amazed at how many people were down there. it was crazy, and dangerous because people were packed in so tight with not enough access to water or an exit even. people were passing out/fainting all around me and i almost did too. it was so hot and so packed and i was so dehydrated.
now im back at school. tomorrow is 'Sport Day'. at school which im not sure what that entails, but i guess they're gonna play games all day. i dont have to dress up, yay! maybe i get to play soccer with them even. fun!
well this is my update for now. oh yeah, and a kid from wesleyan arrived yesterday early in the morning 1am, and i picked him up at the airport and he stayed at my place and then i sent him off to thammasat- i miss thammasat.
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