February 25, 2010

last day at Municipality school

(1st graders and their lovely teacher Porn)

I am finishing my last week at the schools I have been teaching at for the past seven weeks. For my last three weeks I will be moving around to different schools. I am surprised at how attached I have become to the schools and the students I've been working with. I can easily recognize the students' faces and personalities and most of them address me by name. I can hardly communicate with them, but I feel connected with them and it's an amazing feeling. I can confidently say that I have taught these students a lot of English words and simple sentences that they will retain with practice, but what's more is that they have taught me so much about Thai culture and teaching children in general. I will be more than ready to begin my teacher education program when I return home. I master classroom management a little more each day -- the art of timing and the magic of fun learning are becoming much clearer. I usually teach with one or two other volunteers, but I have become the "leader" since I have been here for 7 weeks and most other volunteers have been coming and going every 2, 3, or 4 weeks. Today concludes my "BTEC" course in Leadership Development, and I do feel like I have developed my leadership skills in the past couple of weeks. Two volunteers from Sweden arrived this past Saturday, so Emma (the intern who is in training to eventually lead the project) and I gave them their training sessions and led them in the schools this week. The Swedish girls are so much fun, and it was a perfect team to lead because English is their second language, so they enjoyed the extra guidance.

Yesterday was my last day at Ao Luk Primary School, the school where Pi Rai and Pi Nui teach. I definitely got a little frog in my stomach when I realized it was my last day. The school is chaotic, unorganized, and way behind in their English compared to the other schools. It is the school I would come home from exhausted, and the place I learned to make my most intimidating faces. But it's the craziness of the school and the informal, silly nature of the staff that makes it so appealing. So yesterday when I left my classes I made sure to shake every student's hand that was thrown in my face, and hug every little munchkin that cuddled up next to me. I even signed some autographs which I usually refuse to do :).

Today was my last day at a school called Ram Daecha, one of the more structured schools. I enjoyed this school very much because since the students were muched more advanced in their English skills, I was able to teach them more than just words, which is a lot more rewarding than yelling the word "toilet" over and over again. Today was full of surprises. Normally I teach mostly older children at Ram Daecha, but today when I arrived with my little teaching group, the principle informed us that we'd be teaching preschool and kindergarden all day long. We looked at each other and laughed, and thanked the lord we had brought a bag full of bright colored cardboard shapes. So we proceeded to teach SEVEN classes full of 3 and 4 year old children, yelling the colors of the rainbow more times than you can ever imagine, and singing the rainbow song until we nearly had no voices. When the seventh lesson came around, I was becoming delirious. Halfway through the rainbow song, I had a realization about how funny the whole situation was, and had an extreme laugh attack, which then became contagious. So there we were...Olivia, Sara, and I, laughing uncontrollably with colored shapes in our hands in front of dozens of teeny Thai children looking at us like we were crazy (which we were). I had to walk out of the room for a moment and when I came back in I made up a game as fast as I could...anything to stop singing that damn song! The game ended up being the biggest hit, and had Olivia, Sara, me, and even the Thai teacher jumping around and getting so excited about stars and squares.

P.S. This little kitten in the internet cafe has been a part of this blogging experience.

February 16, 2010

Last Thursday, the five of us volunteers were invited to Pi Rai's home to cook dinner. The invitation was after a conversation I had with Pi Rai telling her that my mom wants me to bring home some yummy Thai recipes. When we got to her house, her, Pi Nui, and a woman named "Peace" were already busy preparing the food. We jumped right in and began boiling blue flowers, green leaves, and pumpkin to make natural food coloring for the dessert. We then mixed the dyes in with sticky rice flour and water, and rolled the colored dough into tiny little balls. The balls were then boiled in a pot of fresh coconut milk and sugar. For the main course we made a spicy Pad Ka Prow Gai (pad = fried, ka prow = basil, gai = chicken) and Pad Prick Gai (prick = chili). So delicious! ("aroy!"). I've already been invited back to cook Som Tam (spicy papaya salad), which is my favorite thai dish so far.

Pi Rai cutting up the pumpkin

The little dough balls before they were boiled

Pi Nui chopping up some pineappleThe whole crew (minus me) enjoying our feast on the floor :)

February 15, 2010

Random tidbits you may (or may not) find interesting about Thai culture:

• Thais are not concerned with cleaning children's baby teeth, because they figure they will fall out anyway. So most children have at least one horribly rotting tooth. A good example of their "live in the moment" attitude that can sometimes have negative consequences.
  HOWEVER, the students have toothbrushes at school and brush their teeth after lunch...Go figure.
• Thais do not use toilet paper. There is a handy "bum cleaner" next to the toilet, a hose that squirts out water to clean yourself.
• The showers are not separate from the bathroom floor. There is often a showerhead randomly in the bathroom and a drain in the floor. Otherwise, there is a tub of water with a bucket that you use to pour water over yourself while standing in the bathroom.
• Spoons are used instead of knives. Most of the food here is soft enough to cut through with a spoon.
• There is wireless internet in more places in the major towns here than at home.
• Porn is a common name for women. (Both my laundry lady's name and one of the teachers I work for.)
• Thais take off their shoes before entering houses, shops, and classrooms...But the children run around in socks that have holes big enough for all of their toes.
• Women who give laundry services tie tiny colored strings around each item so that they know whose clothes are whose. I love seeing the little purple and white strings tied around each of my socks and underwear.
• Many families have shops and restaurants in the front area of their homes. So when I go to the restaurant next door, I am essentially sitting in a family's living room. When I go to the water/snack shop, I am greeted by my favorite plump, smiling Thai lady feeding her five cats or making dinner for her family.
• Babies, toddlers, even entire families cramp onto motorbikes to get around. It is standard to see a tiny little kid standing up in the front part and holding onto the handles while two or three adults or children sit on the seat; or babies in laps; or 10 year olds riding by themselves. And virtually no one wears helmets!
  

February 10, 2010

Some of my brightest students (4th graders)Can't help but favor these cuties (1st graders)

These past three weeks I have been working with Tammy, which has been really good for me. I will be sad to see her leave on Friday because we get along really well and she's a great teaching partner. Being older than me (28), and having lots of work and life experience, Tammy has given me lots of confidence in the way I see myself and some good advice about working with different types of personalities. We've had lots of fun this week in the classroom teaching clothing--having boys dress up in skirts and pink shirts has been our biggest hit so far. We've had to resort to lots of games and fun lately because it's nearing the end of the school year and the kids (and teachers) are quickly getting out of school mode. It's frustrating because even if the teachers are in the classroom, which is rare, they don't make a very big effort to keep the students' behavior under control so that we can actually teach. This morning, nearly half the first grade students we were trying to teach were playing with paper fortune tellers and airplanes, and the teacher sat in the back of the room grading papers while I attempted to put the class in line. It's exhausting! I do have hope that they are learning though, because they seem to remember most of what we've taught in the past few weeks.

Two of the teachers at the Primary School, Pi Nui and Pi Rai (Pi is what you say before a person's name if they are older than you, to show respect), are so sweet to us. They love to hang out with us and are always inviting us to do things outside of class time. The teachers here are much more casual than the teachers in America. Veryyyy laid back, which seems to be both a good and a bad thing. Nothing is very organized, and everyone seems to just go with the flow. If a teacher wants to leave school early on a Friday to go shopping, it's no big deal. They make and cancel plans constantly, and it doesn't seem like they spend much time out of school working. One day last week, I joined Pi Nui and Pi Rai for their daily ritual of swimming in the creek behind the school and playing badmitten and ping pong. The two of them are so silly and down to earth, it's good fun to be around them. Pi Rai's English is pretty good but Pi Nui just laughs a lot. Thais love to give foreigners Thai nicknames, so the two of them have named me Num Won, which means sweet water. It's an extremely sweet red syrup mixed with water...tastes like candy.
Last Wednesday, Pi Nui, Pi Rai, and Pi Tung (the assistant director of the school), took Tammy, Mim (one of the volunteers who has been out here 6 times), and I out to dinner at Lomsoc. Lomsoc is the really nice seafood restaurant on the water that I was taken to once before. The Thais love having us try all of the different shellfish and Thai dishes. "Can you try? Can you try?"

Pi Tung, me, Tammy, Pi Rai, Pi Nui, Mim (I fit right in with the short little Thai women!)

Me eating some sort of sea creature in a shell

On Friday we had an "end of term" party at GVI for all of the people getting their TEFL certificates and all of the adult students at the community center who finished their course. We also invited the teachers from the school, so there were dozens of guests who brought lots and lots of homemade Thai food to share. It was nice to hang out with members of the community in a very laid back atmosphere. Lots of photos taken, beer drank, and karaoke sung. The Thais LOVE LOVE LOVE their karaoke, it's hilarious. So when the GVI manager called us teaching children volunteers up to give us some recognition, she made us sing "Build Me Up, Buttercup" in front of the whole party...so embarassing! But the Thais got up there with no hesitation, singing all of the popular slow Thai songs in their amazing voices....nothing like American karaoke where we basically just shout the words. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that most Thais can actually sing well because their language is based on tones.

The morning after the party, Tammy and I headed off to Railey Beach. It was absolutely gorgeous...nothing like Ao Nang the weekened before. It was still touristy, but the people there were much more chilled out, and the place itself is smaller and more remote. It had been recommended to us to cross over to a different beach called Ton Sai, where all of the rockclimbing happens. So we took a 2 minute boat ride over to Ton Sai to check it out, and we fell in love. It's slightly less perfect than Railey...the beach smaller and the sand not quite as soft, but the vibe was much more our style. We walked up to ChillOut Bar, and asked if they had accommodation available. They showed us these adorable little bamboo huts just behind the bar that you can stay in for 250 baht a night...about $8. I jumped for joy and made myself at home in my cute little hut with a pink mosquito net. After chatting with the guys who worked the bar (Thais with dredlocks down to their butts), I found out that it just so happened to be Bob Marley's birthday, and they were having a party with Reggae djs and fire shows. I couldn't believe we were staying at this Reggaed out bar on Bob Marley's birthday...what a coincidence. So I hung out on the beach all day, wondering how I ended up in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We stayed up late (didn't have much of a choice since my hut was like 10 feet away from the DJ), watching Thai guys swing fire around their heads and chatting to some English teachers who work in Korea.

Ton Sai Beach

Sunday morning we slowly made our way back to Railey. We decided to be brave and trek back over instead of taking the longtail for 50 baht. A local guy who works at one of the bars showed us the way. It took about 20 minutes, but it was quite the experience. You have to scramble around and climb big, sharp rocks, with your legs half in the water (the tide was high). I had my backpack on and was struggling not to fall in the water the whole time. I cut my finger on one of the rocks, but did eventually make it over, feeling very accomplished.

All of the newly qualified TEFLers are in Ko Lanta for the week teaching at an English camp. That leaves Tammy, Mim, Ella, Olivia (new 18 year old volunteer who just arrived), Kerry, and I all by ourselves. It's nice to have some peace and quiet around here though. Last night we went to a party at the Primary school (mostly just so that we didn't have to cook ourselves dinner..haha). I'm still not really sure if there was a reason for the party, but it was just a gathering of all of the teachers and staff. There was food, alcohol, karaoke, and plastic chairs, which seem to be standard for Thai gatherings. The young music teacher (in his twenties) drank an entire bottle of rum to himself, and the older music teacher was downing his drinks and then serenading me, singing me love songs in English (one of them was Black Magic Woman), and telling me he's been waiting a "looooooong time" for me. All of the teachers thought it was hysterical, and I just sat there crying of laughter and hoping he wasn't being serious.

February 2, 2010

I've been confused about time until one of the volunteers explained it really well. When your days are filled with new experiences, your brain has to stop to process each thing that happens, making time seem to go by much slower than usual. When you're in a familiar routine, time flies by because you don't stop to think about each thing you see and do. Every weekend feels like it lasts forever!

This past weekend, five other volunteers and I escaped Ao Luk and went to Ao Nang, a touristy beach town about 45 minutes away. It was an odd experience leaving what feels like home to visit an area that was packed with European travelers. I was able to see the tourist life in a whole new light. We were on an entirely different level from the tourists--while they didn't hesitate to sunbathe topless, we felt strange wearing short shorts. Ao Nang is one of the biggest tourist stops in Southern Thailand, so it's pretty westernized. It even has a McDonalds that delivers---eww. Most people stop there in between traveling around though, because some of the most beautiful beaches are just a short long-tail boat ride away from Ao Nang.

I loved the break from rural Ao Luk, the refreshing swims in the sea, the non-Thai food, and not being swarmed by hundreds of children. It was such a strange feeling though, to be in one of the Thailand tourist stops feeling like I was on a vacation away from Thailand. Not a local but not quite a tourist.

We stayed in one of the super cheap guesthouses, 400 baht a night ($12), which I slightly regretted after finding sand in my bed, no bin (trash can), no towel, no toilet paper, and a toilet down the hall. Mai pen rai! (nevermind!). One of the other interesting/shocking/disturbing parts of the weekend was encountering the dozens of Thai prostitutes dancing on poles (and people) in front of all of the bars. It was hard for me to ignore all of these women, so I spent a lot of the first night drinking my cocktail very confused. We did find a reggae bar that played Bob Marley and Jack Johnson which was refreshing (and a nice reminder that I was still on planet earth).

Me and Ella

On Sunday we went on a snorkeling tour with GVI's friend Nong, who showed us around four different islands, including Ko Hong, the island I went to the previous weekend. This was interesting too, returning to the same island with a tour group on a speed boat rather than being shown around by local Thais on a small longtail boat. The island hardly seemed to be the same place, though sparkling water, the Tiger fish, and the doughy sand hadn't changed.

Lading Island (Tammy)

Ko Hong Lagoon

Ko Hong Island

*As far as teaching goes, the kids are getting used to me which means they are getting crazier and I am getting meaner. They seem to be learning though, and that's all that really matters, right? So far I have taught: classroom objects, food, family, and this week we've been teaching animals--woohoo!

January 24, 2010

Before coming to Thailand, I was feeling guilty about my amazing life (hehe). I thought that coming here would be my chance to be challenged and work hard to give back to the world without having everything handed to me. Working as an English teacher has certainly been a challenge, but this past weekend had me wondering yet again what I've done to be such an incredibly lucky person.

On Saturday a group of us visited the Tiger Temple.
"Wat Tham Seua (Tiger Cave Temple) 5 km from Krabi Town is a small temple built inside a long shallow limestone cave, surrounded by natural forest. The temple, one of the south's most famous meditation centres, takes its name from a stone formation nearby which resembles a tiger's claw. Today, about 250 monks and nuns live in the temple compound." (www.krabi-thailand.org/sight/index.php)

We climbed the infamous 1,237 steps to get to the top of the limestone mountain...each step being the size of my calves and the width of my foot. It was quite the experience holding onto the railing to pull myself up each "step". Luckily there are landings at each flight of about 50 stairs to take a quick breather every so often.

Once at the top, dripping in sweat and nearly out of breathe, I remember thinking that I had never felt so genuinely rewarded. A massive golden Buddha sits in the middle of a huge platform, along with a pagoda and several other beautiful Buddha statues. We had intentionally arrived at the temple extra early to avoid the intense heat and hundreds of tourists, so we were the only ones at the top. I stood there in amazement circling around the big Buddha and taking in the 360 view of Krabi, the surrounding areas, and the sea. It was the most perfect combination of spirituality and nature, and I loved that we had to work hard to have the chance to see it.

After making our way down (which was much harder than you'd think), we sat amongst all the scary looking monkies that live around the temple area. I had been anticipating my first encounter with wild monkies for months...maybe even years. My vision of cuddling with a cute little monkey did not quite match my experience with the dozens and dozens of crazy monkies jumping around at the Tiger Temple. They were everywhere, and they were vicious! They jump and swing around grabbing anything in sight...which unfortunately included my reusable water bottle! I stood up for a second to take a picture when this sneaky monkey jumps along and snatches it away from me. He was very infatuated with it, cuddling it, tossing it around, and eventually untwisting the cap, so I decided to let him keep it (ha ha). Thank god he didn't decide to go for my camera!

After returning from Krabi after some shopping and pizza (pizza had never tasted so good after being apart from one shred of cheese for two weeks), I didn't think my weekend could get any better. That's when I was informed that this woman named Bum was calling GVI trying to get a hold of Ella and I. We had met her at Pa Pui's house the weekend before. She is the sweetest woman, married to the chief of Ao Luk police department, and she loves practicing her English with us. GVI couldn't understand what message she was trying to relay to us, so Bum showed up out of nowhere looking for us. She told Kerry (one of the staff members here) that she wanted Kerry, Ella, and I to come sightseeing with her on Sunday. "Pallywat pick you up at half 6 in the morning. Wear bikini." And so we did....

We had previously met two photographers from Bangkok at Pa Pui's house, who are currently working on helping Pa Pui's family advertise their soon-to-be homestay and the areas surrounding Ao Luk to lure in tourists. So we went on this boat trip with Bum, two friends, and the photographers to model for the adverts. Since it was bikini modeling, they wanted very skinny models so I was saved from having to do sexy poses on rocks like my thin friends did. This all probably sounds very sketchy and weird, but the photographers and Bum are the most down to earth people and their main intention was to the capture the beauty of the area...keeping in mind the style of advertisements that generally appeal to tourists. We were taken out on a motorboat to the most peaceful limestone islands and beaches. Our main task was to kayak around beautiful islands while the photographer took shots from the boat. This was actually quite difficult because not only did we have to steer the kayaks at the right angles, but we were being shouted directions in Thai the entire time--very entertaining. Bum was feeding us exotic fruits all along the way, taking such good care of us. We went swimming, visited a beautiful white sand beach, and ended up at Mu Ko Hong, many Thais' very favorite island. The sand was white, soft, and doughy, and the water was sparkling clear. I swam in the water, fed gorgeous yellow fishies, ate a shrimp stirfry that appeared in front of me, and slept on the beach until we were the last people in sight (there were many tourists at first). We headed back home in peace, watching the sun hide behind the karsts and communicating as much as possible (which was very little considering the language barrier). When I thought our perfect day had come to an end, we arrived at an amazing seafood resaurant on the edge of the water, where we were treated to the freshest (and biggest) crabs, shrimps, calamari, and delicious flaky fishes.

the photographer

Mu Ko Hong

Ella, me, Kerry

Bum

Sak

My legs are still pulsing from Saturday and I am more sunburnt than I have ever been (not an exaggeration), but it's just my body's way of constantly reminding me of my incredible weekend.

January 21, 2010

Here I am, sitting at my lovely next door neighbors' "house". It's the cell phone shop/a wonderful family's home. I am half indoors, half outdoors, I can't even explain. My "house" is on the other side of the wall. The family is laughing and drinking beer next to me. I came to ask them what time the internet cafe stays open until, and they offered me beer, peanuts, and their computer to use.....A perfect example of how truly generous the Thai people are. I just said "sawatdee ka" (hello) to a guest that just arrived and they are giggling...Who knows what they say about me :) They are playing English music, probably because I am here. Today was the first day that I began to feel genuinely comfortable in Ao Luk. Up until now I have had a slight sense of fear walking around the town, which I think is probably a good thing. I came here not understanding the culture but being told by everyone at GVI that Ao Luk is extremely safe, but I needed to figure it out for myself. Today I decided that I need to find a way to exercise here. It seemed nearly impossible considering the cracked sidewalks (and when I say cracked, I mean you are nearly rock-hopping as you walk down the street). I walked down to the community center area late this afternoon and jogged around the field while all the Thai guys were playing soccer. It felt so good to exercise and feel comfortable in my surroundings. I remembered that I heard something about an aerobics class in the open market in the evenings, so I walked over and ended up joining in with all of the Thai women who nearly dragged me into the group to join them. There I was, attempting these INSANE foot stepping and arm motion routines in a group of about 30 Thai women. The steps were ridiculously confusing but I sort of got the hang of it, and was laughing at myself the whole time. As I walked home, nearly every person I passed waved hello and smiled at me. They do this every day, but this was the first time that I felt it to be genuine. I recognized the same families and dogs and cats that I walk by every day, and they recognized me. Now I realize that when people in cars honk as they pass by me, it is not creepy or intrusive but simply their way of saying hello! I also now realize that the dogs and cats do in fact have owners, and that they are not out to get me. They look scary and disease-infested to me because I am so used to seeing spoiled pets, but really they are happy little pets that hang out outside their owners' shops and homes.

.... 1 hour later.
After getting off the neighbor's computer, he told me to join the party. "Baa" poured me beer and had me sit with all of his friends while he danced around. It was very special to sit with this group of about ten Thai people where I was clearly the center of attention. Communication was obviously very minimal, but it was so much fun to hang out and attempt to converse with these lovely people....while Thai techno music was blasting in the background.

January 20, 2010

Pa Pui's brother in law, "Mr. Satay" (the name of his restaurant), came to pick us up today to go bikeriding. The five of us (the 5 other girls teaching children and I) hopped in the back of his rickety red pick up truck (literally in the back part of the truck....that's how it works in Thailand). I sat on a bamboo bench with my knees up, facing the side of the street, holding onto the metal poles/rails?, letting the breeze touch my face (yes, there is plenty of "breeze" here!). "They" led us biking through a palm tree forest/plantation on a bumpy dirt path, which was very difficult/entertaining. They did give us helmets though! We arrived at this unreal place that I will attempt to explain. We walked over a little bamboo bridge into a secret little area that was essentially a square pond. Underneath the water is sand, and when you make noise or clap the sand and water bubble up and get bigger. When you are quiet, the sand and water are still. It's like the earth responds when you speak to it. And when you put your hand in the sand holes, it vibrates strongly and bubbles against your skin. They showed us this place as if it was nothing special, and had no explanation for the phenomenon. I got the impression that we were the first foreigners to ever see that particular patch of Thailand. We then followed our crew to the most gorgeous cave that had a massive golden Buddha statue. One of the Thai men shined his flashlight down a dark tunnel in the cave to show us the HUNDREDS of bats flapping around and sqealing! Straight out of a horror film.......After biking back to Pa Pui's we were immediately served refreshing honeydew juice followed by another amazing meal of different authentic Thai dishes that I can't pronounce. It's crazy how they treat us like princesses yet act like it's effortless. "Mai pen rai"....means don't worry, no problem...the way of life here :)