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Ayutthaya
Our apartment OK. SO, the last blog didn't exactly pan out. I can't read Thai so I was having a tough time using the blog site over here. Kristin has assured me this blog site is much better AND i can post pictures. Here's the low down so far.
I'm in Thailand. I finished my TEFL teacher training course. I think I learned something there, oh yeah, I learned that living in a hotel on the beach for free with 20 awesome kids from all over the world and nothing but free time to explore exotic worlds really is the way to go. The teaching course included 4 real teaching practices in a local buddhist monastary. The first students I ever taught in a classroom were monks in full orange robes. Pretty sweet. There were 12 monks in my class and they were the sweetest most well behaved beings on Earth.
Fast forward to now. I am in Ayutthaya city. It's an island just north of Bangkok. It was the capital of Thailand from the 1300s to the 1800s. Ayutthaya province is the rice capital of Thailand, so there's miles of rice patties jsut off the island. On and around
Ayutthaya
A bike ride through the historic park the island there are many many ancient ruins scattered all over the place. It's like living in a historical park. Actually, it is living in a historical park. Kristin and I share a small single room apartment in the center of the city. It's tiny but we have A/C so that's all we care about when we get home. Last weekend we got bikes and we've been riding all over the island ever since. I feel like I've been sent back in time 100 years.
On to the teaching. We got here last Tuesday. We thought we'd have a few days to kick it around the city and get aclimated to our new home. That idea was shattered about an hour after we dumped our bags in our apartment and were told by our school (much to the suprise our placement officer) that school would be starting the next day and we were to be ready to teach at 8am wednesday morning. After my head stopped spinning, Kristin and I proceeded to drink the local pub clean with a nice mixed crowd of locals, backpackers and fellow teachers. Let me tell you, 5:30 is a tough time to wake
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Kristin and the ruins up. It requires some preperation the night before. Preparation which does not include Song Sam thai style Whiskey. But, somehow we managed (could have had something to do with the fact that we couldn't figure out the hot water in our shower until yesterday). A cold shower does wonders for the body and mind.
We started teaching last Wednesday and it's been getting better and better each day. I almost feel like a real teacher. Here's some info for all the teachers who may be reading this and who have ever complained about class size, schedules, or commutes. I get up every day at 5:30 (that's am). Kristin and I sharing a bathroom, get ready in a half hour. Like zombies, we make our way over to the river ferry and shell out 2 baht a pop to cross the river. (Note:33 baht = 1 USD). We ride the boat with monks, the only other people crazy enough to be awake at this time. They are all carrying bowls to collect food from local vendors in return for prayers and buddhist karma. Not a bad deal. From the ferry, Kristin and I make our way over to the train
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some of the ruins where I have to shell out another 3 baht for a ticket to Bang Pa In, the town just south of Ayutthaya. It's a ghetto old train, probably a hand-me-down from the US Pre WWII. Sometimes, just for effect, i bust out my harmonica and play some tunes while i hang my legs off the side of the car. A nice breeze on the feet is a good wake up call too. The train drops us off and we have to hitch a motor cycle taxi the rest of the way to the school. This ride is much much shorter than the train which is about 20 mins, yet it winds up costing 15 baht. So that's three modes of transport covered right there in our daily commute. Total time: 1 half hour. Total cost in USD: .75 cents. We arrive at school around 7am.
I teach 3 different levels of English. M4, M5, and M6. That's grades 10-12 in the US system. On top of that, I also do 2 business classes in english. You know how i love business. I have 6 different M4 classes, 3 different M5 classes, and 3 different M6 classes. Lets just say
Ayutthaya
Ancient Buddah statue my organization skills are not what they should be to manage 12 different classes spread over 3 different levels and a business section. Lesson planning nightmare. Each class has about 50 students, give or take. And the names, well, they range from short and unpronouncable to long and unpronouncable. I tried the name tag thing using their nicknames but i gave up that real fast. One girl's nickname, NICKNAME mind you, was Aor. I didn't know what I was supposed to do with that. Pointing works just fine.
Luckely, the students are a pleasure. They are nice and friendly. Very shy in groups, but one on one they are very eager to practice English. They all know that it's extremely importnant to know English to get into Universities in Thailand, and they all take their studies very seriously. Also, the rest of the english department faculty are very nice and they are as eager to practice and learn English as the students. More so even. They teach us thai, we teach them english, they keep us from getting ripped off at the local food vendors. It's a good relationship all around. So far I've only taught greetings and introductions. I taught the kids to say "hey, what's up," and now that's all Kristin and I hear when we try to leave our office. I'd be supprised if they know half of what they are saying, but according to our job description, as long as they say it properly, it can be Keats or Dr. Seuse for all the rest of the faculty is concerned. Not like most of them could tell the difference anyway. "Sure Mrs. Ratree, a 'snooralous' is a person who sleeps late every day. We say that in NY all the time."
OK. It's about 9pm here. Bedtime. We work till 4:30 everyday. The only thing that keeps me going is the promise of sleep at 9pm.
In closing, I love it here so far. It's really great. Kristin, I think loves it too. I'll keep you all posted.
Over and out.
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dad
non-member comment
a welcome addition
excellent dude! keep it up. you look great.