Transport and Teaching

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It’s my first weekend in Bangkok and the last few days have been a great build-up to what has started as a lovely welcome to this city.
On Thursday it was class as usual with a bit of a party that evening.
Friday however, was great. We had our first experience of schools in Thailand and spent a few hours at a school observing a class and then we were given the opportunity to teach the class.
Getting there was an experience that I think many of us had been waiting for. We all met in our soi at 07.30 and embarked on our journey. We took a bus for about 10 minutes, walked a bit then got on a river boat for another 20 minutes. For many of us this was the first time we had been on these boats and it was fantastic! You’re given a totally different perspective on the city and seeing the absolute contrasts between rich and poor is incredible. We got off the boat and hopped onto what we back in SA refer to as a “bakkie.” However, it wasn’t a bakkie like we know, the back of the bakkie had been converted into a taxi, 2 rows of seats that accommodated 14 of us. It was great. I, found it a little bit nerve wrecking as I was on the edge and we were driving along the freeway and the traffic is hectic here. I even took a video of it as I didn’t know how to explain this to people.. ha ha. We arrived at the school and it was huge. I didn’t know what to expect the schools to look like but this one was huge. As it’s school holidays at the moment, not all the children go to these Summer Camps so the classes are still quite small.
We were hot and feeling sticky and slightlu under the water and were very greatful for the aircon in the classroom, can't say we were really taking much notice of what was happening in the class. Later on we were given the opportunity to teach the class, we had 10 minutes and it was quite a long 10 minutes I must say! We made our way back via the same transport system and arrived back in soi 19 hot and exhausted. one cold shower later and we were on top form! We had a chilled evening and tried to get an early night as we had big plans for Saturday!

Saturday morning is floating market! Exciting stuff!

Ciao Ciao Bye!

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