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Published: November 12th 2006
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Well, we have managed to drag ourselves to the end of a very tiring two weeks at work! The last few weeks traveling were a bit tough. I had my first real feeling of homesickness and I think we both just wanted to unpack!
After viewing a few housing options we decided that we would rather live near the town than the school, in an apartment block which includes 5 other 'farang' (foreign) teachers. The best thing by far is the huge swimming pool at the end of our corridor! It is beautiful and nearly always deserted as most Thai's won't go out in the sun and can't swim! We have gone swimming nearly everyday and it is so relaxing to be floating in the pool by 3 after a day's work! The room itself is not the best. Although the furniture is new and nice it is only one room with a bed, table, chairs, wardrobe, air con, TV and bathroom. This means we have had to buy a hot plate, kettle and toaster and Neil has to cook on the tiny balcony! It is a bit annoying living in one room - especially as Neil has just begun
GCSE maths and likes to work in silence... thank God for books and the pool!
Getting around is a bit of an adventure. There is not much to do within walking distance of the apartment which means we have to get motorbike taxis everywhere. Although I am getting used to this it does not loose it's terror aspect as there are no helmets and you're never quite sure how sober the drivers are! One journey involved me and Neil on the back of one bike along with two pillows, a week's worth of food shopping, a stove and kettle, going the wrong way up a dual carriage way - safety first! Our apartment is paid for, as is the journey there and lunch is free so we are struggling to spend our wages. You can go and pay 30p for a different lunch but the traditional Thai lunch is far more exciting - when I stirred the soup a pig's foot floated to the surface! The fruit here is so exotic. We recently discovered purple dragon fruit which is the colour of beetroot and tastes gorgeous!
Work itself has been a steep learning curve! The fact that my
uniform had to be ordered in XXL didn't do a great deal for my self esteem but I'm getting used to that! The people we are working with are lovely. Everyone has been so helpful and the Thai teachers follow Neil around giggling at him constantly! The kids are generally great too. We are each teaching about 500 kids a week, from 6 year olds up to 14, so there is quite a lot to think about. The main school we teach at is huge - 1000 kids in nursery and it goes all the way up to 18 year olds! Our week is split between two schools; Naprasitt School has special aircon English rooms, and Bumrungwithaya school has no air con and chalk! The kids here though are really well behaved and the girls sometimes sit and meditate at the end of the lessons which is nice! They call me Teacher Catalin! I had to teach 4 kindergarten classes this week and I was terrified but it was actually really fun and easy! I don't know what all the fuss is about, Bev! The kids here have hilarious names - here are a few examples; Man U, Guitar, PigFat,
Arm, Leg, Head, M, L, E-ee, 2K (born in 2000), a really sweet girl called Pain, I even had a Wee and Pooh in yesterday's lesson!
The behaviour is not perfect though. I've had a couple of awful classes and when there's 45 children and you can't communicate with them it's pretty tough. The children are completely in awe of their Thai teachers because they hit them, but they know the English teachers can't do that and they just expect to play games. In some classes the behaviour is absolutely amazing. They sit in silence and listen to every word! Aaaahhhh.
On Sunday there was no Bonfire to go to but there was a river festival called Loy Krathong where everyone gathers at the nearest stretch of water when it is dark and sends a float downstream with a lit candle on board and a couple of Baht. It was so romantic and beautiful.
I hear the weather has got a bit nippy back home, well, it is approaching winter here too which apparently could mean the temperature plummets to as low 29degrees! This is lovely most of the time but sometimes I do just crave being
cold - that, cheese, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Midget Gems.
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Anne
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Weird names
Hi catherine and neil Glad you are both enjoying your jobs, intrigued by the interesting names think I might try some out on the children at school! The fruit looks amazing almost like a work of art. Really love reading your travelblogs. Enjoy yourselves. Love Anne xxxx