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My bed
Here is my new bed, decked out in very erm sexy tesco bedding and mega comfy pillows, includiing a bolster, get me!!........ and I am so so so happy to tell you all that first impressions of my new country, job, town, colleagues, school, boss, home, EVERYTHING, is really really good!!
I arrived here after a trouble free flight. Was so nice getting to Thailand in three hours!! Got my bags and changed some money, bought some water and then it was time to go meet my lift. I slept most of the way from Bangkok to Lopburi, as even though my flight was short, with the timing of it and the time difference, I missed a nights sleep, so it was nice to grab 40 winks!! When I had my eyes open, I was amazed at how fabulous the infacstructure is, and how capable everyone seems to be at following the traffic rules. It was very strange to have an almost two hour ride without even one minor incident, never mind any near death experiences. Very strange, but something I am sure I will enjoy getting used to!
Got to the hotel that the company had arranged for me to stay in for my first few nights until we had had the chance to organise my long term accommodation.
My electric jar pot
Who wants a kettle when you can have one of these??! The first addition to my 'kitchenette' so, coffees and pot noodles all round this week! Thankfully this hotel is just down the road from school, so I can take some pictures of it sometime this week, as I didnt while I was there, but lets just say there is a distinct monkey theme going on! Infact, this whole town is a little obsessed by its monkey fame! not only are there monkey statues everywhere (not that any others come close to my hotels mind!) there is also the 'Monkey Mall' in town and the hotel also sold Monkey beer, in both dark and light blends, which is actually brewed by a German company, and not too bad at all. But lets just say, Lopburi loves it monkeys!!!!
So, met with Bobby, my boss, at the hotel, had a quick chat and he told me to spend the rest of the day chilling/exploring as I wanted, to ring him if I needed anything but otherwise it was a day to get my barings and he would meet me again the next day, Saturday morning, and take me up to the school to see it, and to partake in a parents day that was been held. He also happened to mention that the other two teachers
TV and Fridge
Both provided with my flat, but I'm paying 200baht pcm for my cable. And yes, I have the football tuned in! That's Arsenal vs Everton from yesterday. COME ON THE TOON tonight!! he had recruited to work in our team had both let him down, so right now I am the only English teacher he has, which means I'm being treated very very well, get in!!! Nah, I'm sure I'd be looked after regardless...!!
So, I spent most of Friday catching up on sleep in my lush bed, flicking through my cable channels, to find the only one in English was Fox News, direct from the USofA and I promise you, if I hear one more word about Clinton vs Obama or Obama's white hating priest, I will scream. I actually kind of feel sorry for Americans right now, if that is what they are subjected to as news on a daily basis, YAWN YAWN YAWN!! In the afternoon I had a bit of a wander, got oh so excited over pepper steak flavour Lays crisps and Lipton icetea, and over the general cleanliness and firstworldness of this town. Now, I was expecting it to be more advanced than India, but I honestly didn't remember/imagine the gulf between the two countires as this big. The strangest thing walking down the street is that absolutely no signs are written in English, and
Wardrobe n Desk/Dressing Table
Hmmm OK i'm struggling for much to say about this one!! most of the shops have dark,sun reflecting windows, so as I walk past rows of shops I have no idea of what is being sold on the other side! Back to the hotel and a yummy dinner in their resturant, some chicken and veg stir fry full of super fresh veggies and exciting mushroom varieties, YUM YUM! Then it was upstairs for an early night, ready for day one at the school in the morning.
Saturday morning at 10, I met Bobby and Lee a trainer from the Bangkok office who had come up for the presentation and we drove just around the corner in Lee's old school VW campervan no less!! to the school. Unlike the teachers in Bangkok, I will be doing all my teaching at the same school, and it will also be Fun Language Lopburi's base. We have our own office and class room, both of which are very nice! Think dark wood varnished floors (strictly no shoes allowed!) tons of space and general loveliness. Infact my first impressions of the school are wow. The gardens and grounds are pristine and clearly loved, and there is a lovely feel to the place. The children's art
TV n Fridge again
This time check out the great length of the curtain on the balcony door!! projects are proudly displayed, and the whole thing just feels very happy. Pictures to follow!
Saturday and Sunday followed pretty much the same routine, we arrived just after ten, and at 11ish we had our presentation to the parents. My part involved introducing myself, which is quite funny, as we all do our introductions in English to a hall full of blank faces as the majority of the parents don't speak teh language, but its nice for them to see the new 'Farangs' (white people) who will be teaching their children. After our introductions, a Thai member of our team gave a presentation about what Fun Language do, and the finale was all of us performing a song to show the parents an example of a classroom activity. This was repeated once more in the afternoon too on both days, for differwent sets of parents.
When we had finished on Saturday I got taken to see two apartments, the second of which I decided to take on the spot. Now, its small and nothing special, but its exactly what I need. And I moved in yesterday afternoon, and it feels so nice to have a home already! Next
My Loo
And very nice it is too!! weekend I will extend my 'kitchenette' to include this funky little electric hotplate and a table for cooking and preparing food as and when i need to. I don't really have many plans to eat inside much though, as there are soooooo many street stalls and little restaurants around, as well as KFC, pizza hut etc in the shopping centres in town, and a ton of Thai resturants too! After seeing the apartments, we went to Tesco Lotus in town to get all the essentails, bedding and the like so I could move in the next day after work. Then, back to the hotel for a monkey beer to celebrate day one of 'team fun language lopburi', and a quick shower before we went out for dinner to 'The Broiler' a really cool all you can eat BBQ resturant, where each table is given it own mini barbie and goes and picks its own meat and cooks it. Fab idea, and I'm sure mum will love it!! I had only been in Lopburi 36hours at this point, but sat at that table eating dinner with Bobby, Lee, Kate (another trainer from bangkok), Wow (our fabulous Thai co-ordinator, who is going
Washbasin n Mirror
Think the tennant before me must have been vain, or maybe that is Thais in general? Well my flat certainly isn't short of mirrors, I've got four in a very small space to be based here, and be my main Thai teacher, she is lovely), Pung (Bob's girlfriend), Bob's Mum and myself, I felt really contented and happy, as well as excited and up for the challenge ahead. I never in a million years expected things to feel this 'right' from teh beginning, it's fab!
Sunday followed the same pattern with two parent presentations and then the 'big move!' I spent the evening setting up my flat, getting excited about my internet connection and watching the football. Then had a lovely sleep in my new bed!
Today is a public holiday here as well as back home. Here it is the anniversary of the King's Corronation, and my word, how they love him. It is really bizarre to think of the difference between the popularity and almost obsession with monarchy here and then the complete lack of interest of the majority back home with our queen. The King's statue/picture/flag/crest is literally everywhere here. In the school they have a series of perhaps 8 portraits of him on the wall showing different stages of his life.
Now, I am the first to admit that my sense of direction isnt the
The beginnings of my kitchenette!
Had fun shopping for my first bits and pieces today. Next weekend I'll get my kitchen counter area and my matteress sofa set up n i'll be all good to go! best, so i decided to spend today wandering around trying to get my barings. Which went pretty well, I have learnt that the highway I live on is LOOOONNNNNNNGGGGG without footpaths, and any sane person probably wouldnt wander down it in the midday heat........ I say, what a great way to introduce my neighbours to the crazy farang that has moved in, and to top up on my tan! The walk is actually not that bad, so tomorrow i'm going to do it again, but early morning on my way to school, and I'm sure it'll be lovely! An hour later, my wak led me to 'Big C' a massive store/mall complex where I got a few more bits for my place, met up with the other guys so got a lift home this evening.
I am now about to nip to my local jiffy for some dinner, and then shower and watch a bit of the football before bed. Tomorrow is a 9.30 start for training, so I get to find out exactly what and how i'll be teaching, which will be really cool. Wednesday is more training for me and the Thai Team Teachers, and then Thursday
Balcony View
Looks like prime monkey habitat, but thankfully no! They all live right at the otherside of town and Friday is a training programme for the general teachers at the school, which I will also be part of. Our actual teaching doesn't start until 26th May, so apart from popping to Laos on a visa run! not sure what else is planned for us between now and then, but i'm sure all will become clear. I'm hoping for plenty of time to have some Thai drilled into me. The only difficulty here so far is that no one speaks English, so everything is a chore, or plain impossible. I'm taking this as a masssive bonus though, becuase for the first time in my life I'm in the position where I HAVE to learn another language, something that I have fraternised with for along time, but have always been too lazy. Here I have no choice, so bring it on. Yorkshire Thai, its not gonna be pretty, but hopefully it'll do the job!!!!!!!
I'm going to make it my priority this week to take photos of the town, the school, my local surroundings etc. And with internet connection in my room, its going to be easy to keep in touch.
I also have another 4 saved blogs
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Just beyond those trees is my local jet garage with its superb Jiffy Convenience store. I think the staff in there will share my pain on my Thai learning journey! that I have started at different times since I came away and never got round to finishing when i've only been able to add them from internet cafes, so look out for backdated entries appearing soon!
Much Love, Happy Kato xxx
PS India, I still love you!! And, I am missing my children like crazy, but its so much easier not being there when here is so great!!
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Hiya Kato, love this blog; it's so well written (unlike mine). Sounds like you are having an amazing time in Thailand, I'm really jealous, but hey, don't you worry about us stuck in Blighty...u have a reet good time girl. Take Care, Bev xx