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Robert Tootle
An American living in Thailand and teaching English in northern Bangkokrtootle
Travel Blog Posts
Kanchanaburi Bike Ride and the Mystical Temple, late-December, 2010
Published: April 16th 2011Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Kanchanaburi
April 16th 2011
Sonny inquired if I would be interested in a day-long bike ride through parts of Kanchanaburi (KON-cha-na-boo-ri) Province, about 130 kilometers west of Bangkok. Let’s go! Prior to our departure he had plotted out the route and had previously travelled through much of the area. We put our bikes in the back of his car one morning and away we went. Upon arrival in the small town of Kanchanaburi we found a guesthouse to our liking, checked in, and then hit the road. The first part of our 35-40 kilometer ride wound south along the narrow two-lane road that traverses the town and eventually leads to Highway 323, the “main drag” of four-lane concrete that beelines through most of the Province. The route down Highway 323 was a necessary evil before we escaped the heavy traffic ... read more
Beauty and the Beast 11-27-10
Published: April 1st 2011Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Nonthaburi
March 25th 2011
On the Teacher’s Lounge bulletin board at my new school, Phraharuthai Nonthaburi (Sacred Heart Nonthaburi), English Program Director Sonny had written a notation asking if any teacher was interested in playing the role of the Bookseller in the school’s upcoming production of “Beauty and the Beast.” After confirming that it was a small part, requiring only a few moments onstage at the beginning of the performance, I decided to go for it. The show would run for one night only and a full house was expected. Over the next few weeks rehearsals were held, and I gradually became aware that this was to be a large-scale production, with well over 100 students involved, and would also include additional dance and song routines to commence after Beauty finished; the full stage time ran about three hours! In ... read more
Final day at Samkhok School, 10-10-10
Published: April 10th 2011Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Pathum Thani
February 3rd 2011
I walked down the driveway bordering Samkhok School’s soccer field on one side and the hectic marketplace, located at the temple’s front parking lot, on the other. Proceeding along the sidewalk contiguous with the temple grounds, then through the back building courtyard, I joined my fellow teachers in the auditorium, behind the EP classroom building, for the Sunday celebration that concluded the school semester. The room was packed with monks from the temple, other local dignitaries, the students and their family members, and the Thai teachers and staff. We took our seats to the right of the stage, directly in front of the booming loudspeakers. The ceremony began with a blessing from the temple's head monk and included a parade of speakers -- including the Mayor-Lord, the School Director, and the Activities Director. Interspersed with the ... read more
Christmas Festival Day 12-24-2010
Published: December 31st 2010Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Nonthaburi
December 29th 2010
(note: Originally intended to present these blogs in chronological order but...blahblahblah...eventually the blogs will become more “time-orderly.” Also, regarding video quality, "it is what it is." mea culpa) I currently teach English at Sacred Heart Nonthaburi, a Catholic school in northern Bangkok and, as usual, started my work day with a motorcycle taxi ride to work -- copy/paste following link to see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T03PSIDZjNo On Friday a Christmas festival was held on school grounds. Although Thailand is largely a Buddhist country and does not recognize Christmas per se as a holiday season, our school certainly does. Many smaller events preceded the Friday festival (which was open to all the students and their families) -- class activities conducted on the big stage; group lessons in learning and singing of Christmas carols, beginning basic... read more
Samkhok School Festivities, June 2010
Published: December 31st 2010Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Pathum Thani
December 18th 2010
Shortly after arriving in Thailand, we began teaching in the English Program (EP) at Samkhok School, a public/government school located in a country village in Pathum Thani Province north of Bangkok. The school grounds had a large main building in front for administration and exclusively Thai classrooms, and a smaller building in back of that, .used for the English Program and additional Thai classes. These two buildings housed the Mattayom students (grades 7-12 in the US). Across the street was the Pathum building for the younger kids (basically Kindergarten through grade 6 in the US). Between the two Mattayom buildings was a large open area, where most of the ground was smoothed over and construction of additional school buildings had begun. The festival was held in early June and many hundreds attended, including the Mayor-Lord (the ... read more
December 11th 2010
These photos are from the first two days in Bangkok, mid-May 2010. (Apologies for the paltry-crappy-fuzzy pictures, I didn't yet realize my camera was on its last legs.) We finally managed to escape the gigantic Suvarnapbumpi Airport (ha! forgot how to spell it exactly but it's basically pronounced "soovannaboom") at around noon -- about 36 hours (counting the time change) after we left San Francisco International in the US. We met with some of the representatives from our soon-to-be employers, who informed us that those teachers destined for Samkhok School would need to spend a few days in the city, as our residences close to the school were not yet ready for us. Our hostess drove us and our massive amounts of luggage to a downtown hotel (don't remember where exactly but it was the Silom ... read more
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