The first week I was there I looked at my Thursdays and sighed a breath of relief only two classes, a breeze. No no, not possible. Thursday morning I get approached and asked if I would like to coach Drama club. At the end of the year they are putting on a play. After agreeing I have a moment of panic. “What kind of play,” I ask. The response is ambiguous. “Oh, do not worry… any play it can be 5 minutes or 1 hour whatever you want…” So I show up to a class of 44 students expected to put [View Full Entry]

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On a side note, Thanksgiving was a huge success. Here is the menu so you can all be impressed that I pulled this off with one burner one pan and a borrowed toaster oven. Though I planned everything my fellow teachers pulled together and two of the girls actually ended up making much of the food. Green Salad - Lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, corn, apples, pumpkin. Fruit Salad Yam Soufflé - Yams here are purple so it looked a little like purple goo when you put it on your plate but tasted divine as usual. Thanks Aunt Betsy. This was cooked in [View Full Entry]

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School has been going well. I have 8 different classes M.(Mateum) 3/1-3/8. This means 9th grade (14-15 year olds). My two highest classes have only 38 students and are a breath of fresh air. The rest of my classes have about 55 students per class. This means that I have over 400 students that I am teaching in any given week. I haven’t been able to get a grasp on their names yet. They all have nicknames, of which, most are English origin and yet I still pronounce them all wrong. In my class I have a number of little girls [View Full Entry]

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I wake up every morning to roosters crowing and the dawn light coming gently into my bedroom. Outside there is a coconut tree, a vegetable garden with some kind of vegetable that may or may not have an English name and a cute row enclave of homes with some of the other English teachers. This is very likely because only English teachers can afford the rent which is pretty high, about $150. We are paying for luxuries like hot water and a kitchen! I am dying to get my hands on a ripe coconut so far I’ve cracked open only one [View Full Entry]

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I am lying in my brand new duplex flat. When I say brand new I mean both new to me and to this world. The place was completed less than a month ago. I suppose most of us our surrounded by people non-stop in our lives but I don’t even remember a time when I haven’t been. This is my first time living alone and I’m going to guess it’s going to take a touch of getting used to. I have no idea what to do with all this space and time. Still I’m happy. Finally, finally no more living out [View Full Entry]

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October 31, 2009 A great sigh of relief was nearly audible as we all finished our week of Practice Teaching. The first day I stood up in front of that class I realized this was something that I could do. 8 Children looked up at me. They had been taken out of their fall vacation in order to get to go to an English class taught by a real live westerner. I was first on the first day. The lesson went smoothly. The kids listened! I was amazed. I left feeling a elated. Maybe they won’t tear me to pieces I [View Full Entry]

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November 3, 2009 Six of us were contracted out to a Thai company which does placement, English camps and cultural exchanges. The company, called AYC met with us all today and asked what we were looking for. The Chicago born director of HR was very reassuring even while he told us that we did not have jobs yet. Luckily, we are being paid anyway. Whether teaching or having a week or two to stew and to plan (without and age group or level), I guess there could be worse things. Bangkok isn’t someplace I was looking to live in but it’s [View Full Entry]

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November 1, 2009 My training is done. This Halloween I spent in the nicest bus I’d ever been in. Encased in air conditioning, the seats reclined all the way, a nice stewardess came by with blankets, snacks and drinks and I passed out in exhaustion. I arrived in Bangkok and found our hostel with some difficulty. The cab pulled up to the address and the only thing there was a gate and a sign that says M.D.C Recruitment Agency LDC. We eventually woke our friends up and learned that the guesthouse was not supposed to have opened yet but opened especially [View Full Entry]

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October 25, 2009 Loy Krathong Upon awaking from my nap at 4:30pm my roommate told me everyone was going to an early Loy Krathong celebration. Loy Krathong, is the celebration of the water goddess. I knew only that something regarding lanterns was involved. I stumbled out the door in a bit of a haze knowing I should not miss it but still feeling the effects of the previous night’s shenanigans. So we all piled in a Sing Tao, a taxi van of sorts and went off to the festival which was about 20 kilometers out of town. Arriving we were [View Full Entry]

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October 18, 2009 We are quickly approaching my second week in Thailand. Strange how far removed I already feel from my life and yet how quickly time has passed. I have been thrown back into being a student for 3 short weeks to learn how to be a teacher. Crazy, considering the rigorous requirements back home to become a teacher, I wonder that anyone would allow us to teach their children. Here, teachers are respected, even revered. In the social classes of Thailand, the King and the Monks are pretty much on par at the top (though high monks are above [View Full Entry]

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