Photos

I created an online album of photos to illustrate my experience of  living and teaching in Thailand!

Thailand 2012-2013

Thai style Thanksgiving on Sports Day!

Time in Thailand seems to be flying by! After October break I have had quite a few days off from teaching. I think I was wrong about August having a lot of holidays... What I mean is that I now realize the whole Thai school year has a lot of holidays or activities instead of school.


My first Thai Thanksgiving was at Monique's school. I think the best part about our Thai Thanksgiving was that her school was having "sports week" and so we all took the day off from our regular schools to play sports and have a Thanksgiving lunch. What I mean by we played sports, was that we really just all got different color polo shirts and watched the students play everything from football  (soccer) to table tennis. A main difference between Thailand and the US is that when it gets hotter in America people wear less clothing, but in Thailand people put on more clothing! Typical Thai "sports" outfits are long polyester sports pants and a polyester polo (the whole school wears the same ones - everyone is matching). First of all polyester in general is hot and does not breath well. Second they play outside in these outfits in the sun and heat. I find myself finding it hard to just sit in front of a fan in this outfit let alone run around in one.

Monique's school knew this is a big holiday in America so they wanted to make it special for us. In preparation they asked what we normally ate for Thanksgiving, we told them; turkey, salad, and potatoes. Monique's school found a Turkey for us (it was actually from the US) and had it cooked at the local restaurant bbq / rotisserie style. I think it might have been the best turkey I have ever had! Along with Turkey, the restaurant catered the rest of the lunch with some delicious traditional Thai food. We also had "Thai salad" meaning about 3 pieces of lettuce, shredded carrots and cabbage, beans, apples and a very very think mayonaiseish dressing. They managed to get potatoes too, but in the form of french fries...

We had another Thanksgiving with more traditional food on Saturday. Drew made garlic mashed potatoes and no-bake cookies, Monique made baked chicken, I made green bean casserole, apple crisp and Kraft macaroni and cheese. It was fun to cook all day and have some comfort food too!

It was also absolutely wonderful to phone in with my family on Thanksgiving! It made me really miss home and everyone back in the states, but then I realized I only have 3 more months in Thailand.




In terms of missing school for activities or Thai holidays, I  have outlined what the month of December and January look like for me.....

December (and the end of November):
- I had no school on November 29th and 30th - I actually have no idea why we didn't have school, but it was nice having a 4 day weekend.
- December 5th was the King's birthday - A national holiday and no school
- December 10th was "Constitution Law" day - Again I am not sure what this means
- December 13th we interviewed students for an exchange program (no teaching)

I think my favorite part about the interviews was when we asked one student who the current president of the United States was she answered "Justin Beiber".

- December 17th-21st Nong Wang (my second school) has sports competitions at another school (no teaching)
- December 20th-31st I am taking a vacation with Dad, Beth, Julia and Sam!

January
- December 31st-January 2nd is the New Years holiday
- January 9-10th Huatale School English Camp
- January 17-19th Pettpitayasan School English Camp
- January 24-28th were planning on taking a mini vacation to re-visit the famous full moon party

Then its already February

Ripe Fruit & Fake Flowers

Thai parties have been an essential part of our time in Chaiyaphum. Not only do they have them for just about anything, but we are invited to them on a regular basis (meaning maybe between 1-4 a week). It doesn't matter what kind of party your invited to there will always be food, alcohol and karaoke.
Being "farang" (foreigners) its is a requirement to sing before you can leave the party, trust me there is no way of getting out of it. We have been to "monk" parties, "welcome" parties, retirement parties, change of school parties,  funeral parties, dinner parties and more.

One of the the common Thai traditions at these welcome/ going away / retirement / change of school parties are gifts. The typical gift upon leaving or entering a new school along with the party is fake flowers. These flowers come in all colors and arrangements, they can range from a real bouquet you would buy at the grocery store to fake flowers in a pot. There is a "traditional" way to give and receive these flowers. First the head person (director, boss, government official etc.) gives some speech and then hands the person the flowers, but before that person can take them they hold out their arms placing the flower arrangement between themselves and the head person until lots of pictures have been taken. Of course no one actually smiles in the pictures, only before and after the picture. 

The only other presents are framed pictures of the King and Queen, blankets, towels and pottery vase things. 

Another component of Thai parties is consuming alcohol. There are 3 types of alcohol that you will find; whiskey, Thai beer, or Spy Red. Spy Red is what Thai people consider real wine, but really it is just a wine cooler. If there is no alcohol at the party it usually means its on school grounds (its against the law to bring alcohol onto government school property). While most people would be okay with this there are always the "bad" kids (teachers) that sneak in alcohol, of course you can always assume that these are teachers from Bangampan School.

On a completely different note, but another tidbit of Thai culture is the consumption of un-ripe fruit. I'm not sure if Thai people don't understand the concept of ripe fruit or they just like to eat sour things... They always make a "this is sour" face and say "oooy priow" (oooy, sour) like they don't like what they are eating (Thais do something similar to this with spicy food too - when they are crying and saying how spicy the food is they just keep eating it!!). To help with this sour taste they always eat it with this sugar chili dip. I don't really get why they don't wait until the fruit is sweet instead of dipping every bite in sugar! Frequent un-ripe fruit that we eat on the regular is mango, guava, papaya.

Lewis & Clark Article

The Center for Career and Community Engagement at Lewis & Clark does a "recent alumni" spotlight, which I am featured in this month.

Check out the link below if your interested

Recent Alumni Spotlight: Hannah Louis

October

In Thailand most schools close for the entire month of October for "midterm" or holiday. From what I understand this started because the rain and floods during the month of October made it difficult for students to get to school and then eventually it was decided this would be the midterm of the school year.

Since the schools are closed this means no school for me and  an entire month of traveling and exploring Thailand!

 I left Chaiyaphum on the 5th of October and headed for Bangkok to meet my friend Allison (from Lewis & Clark). We spent a couple of days in the city and then began our adventure south.

Our first stop was Hua Hin - a favorite beach town for Thai people. This area is about a 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok and therefore a spot where many Thais travel to on the weekends for some beach time. Thai people hate to be tan and see being white as more beautiful, which means that they wear clothing that covers them from head to toe while on the beach or in the water. We saw some people go as far as brining an umbrella in the ocean just to make sure they wouldn't get any sun whiteout during the day.

About five days later we got on a bus that would take us to the tourist destination of Phuket. This was probably the most luxurious bus I have ever been on. The size of the seats were about 1st class size that reclined so much that you could almost lay down completely. The seats also had message and heated options and each one had its own tv (with movies in English). To say the least it was a pretty comfortable 9 hours bus ride and for only $20 (600 baht).

Phuket (specifically Patong beach) was overly crowded and touristy so we decided to just spend the night and take a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi Don.

Immediately after arriving on the island (even though quite touristy) we felt much better. The island is small and cozy with no cars and maybe a handful of motorbikes. You can walk the whole area in less than an hour. We stayed right in town about a 2 min walk to one beach and a 10 min walk to another. We met up with the other girls I live with who told us to do a 3 in 1 tour while on the island so we did. This 3-in-1 tour (more like a 6-in-1) consisted of cliff jumping, snorkeling and exploring Koh Phi Phi Leh,  a dinner in a secluded beach with a fire dancing show, and a night swim to see bioluminescent plankton. -- Koh  Phi-Phi Leh is a smaller island that is protected by cliffs, but has two lagoons for people to swim / snorkel in. We went to the one called Ao Maya (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed) and saw two sea turtles while snorkeling. -- we ended up loving all of Koh Phi-Phi. It was filled with tourists but it still had a fun young going out vibe.

After 5 days on Phi-Phi we left the Andaman coast for the east side (Gulf of Thailand ) . Our journey there consisted of a ferry ride to Krabi a bus to Suratani and then an overnight ferry to Koh Tao. This one was not quite as comfortable,but still an interesting experience. The sleeping boat was about 60 people crammed into a caning with mats to sleep on. I slept super well, but Allison had told me the next morning she didn't really sleep at all with the rocking and stormy weather.

We arrived on Koh Tao (our current location) Sunday at 7am in the morning. I think we love this island even a little more than Phi Phi even though both have sparkling clear water and the small town vide. This island is a little bigger (it has cars and you cant walk from one end to the other in an hour), but it feels less touristy and not everyone you walk by is trying to sell you something. Allusion is getting PADI certified here so we stay until the 26th. Since our arrival I have been on two dives and will continue to get my advanced open water certification starting tomorrow morning!

"Are you enjoy?"

It has definitely been an amazing experience living, teaching and learning in Thailand, but some things just also make me laugh. Some typical questions or comments that we (Monique, Soorim, Drew and myself) get on a daily basis that I thought were worth sharing.

"Are you enjoy?"
This generally means are you having fun or did you have fun. You can bet that you will be asked this question at least 3 times a day.

"Are you funny?"
This is also used for asking if you are having fun or if you had fun. My director at Huatale uses this one quite often when he knows I went on a field trip or after the weekend or something like that. It took a little bit of time to get used to this one and in the beginning I really was lost on why he was asking if I was funny, but then I figured it out.

"Are you delicious?"
Generally the real question is, is the food delicious? Its hard not to stop what you are doing and look at them and , "What are you talking about?".

"Are happy mai?"
This is asking if you are happy in general and what they really mean to say is are you happy?. Mai is put at the end of most words when it is a question. For example A roi mai? Which is actually asking if the food is delicious. Or Sabaiee di mai? "how are you?". Thai people or our teachers are always concerned whether or not we are happy.

"Are you miss home?"
They are very concerned whether or not we are home sick so this question comes up a lot. A lot of Thai people don't move away from home or if they do its generally still somewhere in Thailand so they are not used to being so far away from their family.

"Your face is beautiful ......uh......  like a potato"
This particular comment was said to Soorim when we were out at dinner with some of her teachers. We are not really sure where the potato part comes from, but it makes us laugh every time we bring it up.

Seven

At a famous Thai movie set - everything was made out of styrofoam even the guard dogs in the above picture

I was in Seven tonight with my friendship family after a pad Thai dinner in “Camping” (the area with the stoplight and about 7 kilometers from the compound) and came to the realization that when I am back in America my local seven wont have everything I need. For Thai people Seven is like any normal grocery store plus so much more. If you ever go on any sort of trip you can be assured you will stop at, at least one seven along the way. You can buy minutes for your cell phone, bus tickets to go pretty much anywhere in Thailand, snacks, meals and of course sandwiches, which according to Thai people are hot dogs in bread with a cheese spread.

(My Thai mom, siblings and their cousins)

(My Thai Mom Khun Aoum)

I experienced my first sandwich when I went on vacation with my friendship family about 3 weeks ago. Schools were closed August 2^nd-5^th for Buddha’s birthday (or I think that’s what it was – on a side note it seems that August is the month of birthdays, holidays, exams, competitions, sports and anything else that would be a “valid” reason for not having school). Anyways, my friendship family asked me to go with them for the long weekend to Kanchanaburi west of Bangkok and an area known for waterfalls.
Little did I know that it was a whole family reunion for my friendship father’s family. He has 4 sisters, one brother, and many nieces and nephews. Together on this trip there were about 12 adults and 10 kids. We went to a famous tiger temple on a mountain stayed at “Lake Heaven Resort” – check out the picture…. The resort is made up of a bunch of little bungalow houses tied together by docks that you can walk across with a swimming / play area in the middle. Even though no one really spoke English and I know very little Thai being with the entire family made me feel at home and reminded me of our own family gatherings back in the bay.

(Piy and Plaum my Thai siblings)

Back to the sandwich… As I said before if you ever go on any trip you will stop at Seven if you are with Thai people. We stopped not even 20 minutes into the trip. I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t get anything. AS much as I don’t like hot dogs I couldn’t turn it don because it was given to me by my host sister, a nine year old girl who I hang out with everyday after school.

August has essentially been a month of traveling and I can't even remember the last time I was home for the weekend. We have had so many holidays and trips that the month flew by.

We still don’t have internet at the compound, but I am told that it is almost fixed. So maybe another week or so?

The Compound

We (Monique, Drew, Soo and I) put this together to show the highlights of our life in Chaiyapum for our retreat this past weekend in Lampang with all the TTC teachers.

* This video might be rated R in the USA so viewer discretion advised

Sorry it has been a while. I haven't had consistent or reliable internet for over a month! 

"The End of the World"

A teacher is standing between us and the Monks because women cannot touch them

Monday (6/18/12) one of Monique’s schools took us on a field trip. In the beginning I wasn't planning on going, but ended up skipping school (of course after asking permission) after one of her teachers demanded that I come. Our first stop was of course Seven for a quick snack and drink. About an hour later we were going down a driveway lined with beautiful trees brining us to a Buddhist temple. The director of Monique’s school preformed a ceremony with the “top” monk after all the students had arrived (7^th and 10^th  grade). The students would be spending the next three days at the temple learning and practicing how the monks live. After the ceremony all the teachers who were at the temple went down into the bamboo forest to harvest bamboo shoots with the “top” monk, who spoke English and who actually has students in San Francisco. To finish our visit, we had an all-vegetarian lunch at the temple (the monks do not eat meat), which was actually quite a nice break from the continuous pork.

       Pet (the nickname for Monique’s school) still had more activities planned and after the temple we continued on to Pahin-ngam National Park. The park is known for its views, beautiful flowers and the “Thai Stonehenge”. The park has an overlook / cliffs that they call the end of the world, which overlook a valley and are the border of the Chaiyaphum Province. The Krajaew (kra-g-ow) flowers, which are only out during three months of the year are known for their pink beauty and unique shape. For example if you step off the path while walking through the park where the flowers are you are charge 500 bhat. The last stop in the park was what the teachers call the “ Thai Stonehenge”, which is a group of rocks that are in interesting formations. The Thai people think one looks like the world cup and another one like a chicken. They explained to us that some scientists believe based on the rock formations that this part of Thailand used to be under the sea. After taking tons of pictures and buying fresh mangos we headed back home.

 Monks at "the end of the world"                                     Monique at the "Thai Stonehenge"

"Same Same, but Different"

"Same same, but different" is something I hear almost everyday here in Thailand. It generally means (talking about two things - this could be anything) that its either the same as something else, like something else or not like it at all.
    

 After our training at the Yonok Foundation in Lampang Thailand we all split up to go to our respective provinces. I was placed in a rural district in the province of Chaiyaphum with one other teacher Monique. I have a feeling that I will be talking about Monique quite a bit in my blog since she is the only other person who speaks English on the mine we live on. She graduated from Mercer University in Georgia in May and is from Trinidad and Tobago. Some other cool stuff about her is, “she was almost born in Cypress, she lived in Pakistan for three years and was evacuated to the US after 9/11 where she resided in Orlando Florida until college”.

 Our first weekend in our new home: I have almost settled into my new home, which seems like it is really in the middle of nowhere. Allison (my roommate from college) is teaching in Uttaradit, which is about a 6 hour drive away and an 8 hour bus ride even though its really only about 140 miles away. We have rice paddys and tapioca fields as neighbors. One funny thing is that for the amount of rice that surrounds us, we still can’t buy it at the market only the tesco express, which is like a Safeway. Oh yeah I live on a mine. Its pretty much like a compound with 24/7 security that walks the perimeters every 2 hours (supposedly). I think there are some places were not supposed to go, but since no one speaks English its hard to tell. There is one other guy who lives on the compound and he is, I believe a geologist for the mine, he likes to plant trees or play soccer in his free time so we rarely see him as well. We can't pronounce his name so we just call him Mr. T.

 Friday (6/1/12) morning we got up early to visit our new schools before beginning on the following Tuesday. Monique and I both teach at two different schools during the week. We were introduced to our school directors as well as the rest of the teachers. We thought we were going to go to Korat (a major city) on Saturday, but apparently that changed. So instead we did nothing too exciting, we just slept in and took the day pretty slow.
Sunday – Monique and I tried to walk to the “camping” or intersection aka the stop light, which has a Seven (seven eleven – but just referred to as seven here) an Amazon Café and a Tesco express. We were told it was too far by the guards as well as Mr. T so we walked to an open market instead, which only took about a half an hour. We considered it our big adventure, which really only involved walking down a straight road with tapioca fields on either side of us.











Monday – Monday was some sort of holiday so there was no school. Monique and I were taken to Korat (the second largest city in Thailand). The drive was just over an hour and we hear that the bus only takes an hour and a half. The mall itself was bigger than any mall I have been in before. With four levels you could find anything, even McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, but really only being two weeks into Thailand we decided to stick with the Thai food court and I had traditional kaaw phat mu (pork fried rice).

  School Life: I work at two different schools. Monday – Wednesday I am at a school called Hue Ta Le, which is smaller and goes from kindergarten to 6th grade. The school itself practices Buddhism (every morning there are prayers I just don’t know what they are ever saying, but they are the same ones everyday) as well as farming. On my first day of teaching I was given khaaw niaaw mu ping aka sticky rice and pork on a stick cause they heard I liked it. So far they bring it to me every morning that I come to school. They also gave me mangos and some fish / shrimp concoction to eat it with (but I gave that to the maids when I got back to the compound) and literally 30 eggs from the chickens that they farm here. There are also ducks and fish. I haven’t seen anything else yet. They also feed me lunch everyday. My second school is kindergarten – 9th grade on Thursday and Friday. I was told I was going to teach 6-9th grade so I prepared for it then they changed their mind so I now have 30 first graders (in one class), 30 second graders, 30 3rd graders and 30 4th graders each day. Compared to my other school, which has 19 students max in each classroom. Lets just say its hard to control the entire class especially when they have no idea what you are saying because this is their first English class ever….
 
 I have come to learn that most Thai people feel that whenever possible they should drive in the middle of the road instead of in their respective lane.

Temples, Elephants and Steak

Sunday March 27th we had a day to "rest", which included visiting a famous Buddhist temple, an elephant conservation center, a ceramic outlet and finally we finished the day with a buffet dinner at "Toronto Steak Buffet" (which didn't serve any beef - only fried chicken, fried fish, roasted pork, onion rings, rice spaghetti with tomato sauce that was white). Everyone was disappointed from the lack of beef since we have been eating pork non stop.



Left - Nok one of our guides from TTC (also our 17 year old friend from Lampang) 

Right - The shadow of temple was reflected though a little hole in the wall

The First Market

Allison getting some sort of pancake thing to eat

Lychee! 












Pim our teacher / program director

           

Chilis - phet ma (very spicy)

                                          The Minibus, which we use to go into the city