1 month in Thailand

As of yesterday, I have been living in Thailand for one month! I feel like it has been so much longer because of how much I have seen and experienced, but there is still so much more I want to do.

I have finally had a few classes teaching on my own, and I have liked it a lot. my little 5th graders are so cute, I am so thankful that I am enjoying my job. And the Thai teachers in the English department are so kind. They literally bring us some kind of snack every day, we are always eating in the office! The whole teaching thing is still out of my comfort zone and I get very anxious before class, but overall it is going well and I like it. I also enjoy teaching 2nd grade on Fridays, here is a picture of one of my 2nd grade students, I guess he randomly felt like modeling for me haha. 

Something that I think will always be hard to get used to is we will randomly not have class, or suddenly have class because of various activities going on for the students. I had 2 classes cancelled one day just because there was a sticky rice eating competition that went over time! There's a lot of activities and field trips for the kids which is great. They are all very happy, but very rowdy. 

Last weekend, some friends and I went on an overnight trip to the island of Koh Samet. We had to take a van to the pier and then a ferry to the island. We left early Saturday and got there by late morning, and it was absolutely perfect. The weather was perfect, the water temperature was perfect, it was just a great day. I was really needing to get out of Bangkok; it is great, but it is very polluted, crowded, and dirty so it was great to have some fresh air and room to breathe and just relax. Koh Samet was the perfect place for that. 

Nuanthip pier, off the mainland where we took the ferry. The weather wasn't
looking good but it was nice on the island!

Candid on the ferry

On the ferry! Sarah, Vanessa, me, Kendall, Amanda, Grant

Arriving at paradise!

Taking a taxi from the pier to our hotel. Literally sitting on the back of a pickup truck!
Me, Vanessa, Kelly, Kendall

Walking to the beach

Perfect paradise. One of my best days in Thailand so far.

Where I fell asleep for 2 hours

Me and Vanessa, literally jumping for joy

With the mermaid and mer-man statue

At night, we ate dinner on the beach, saw a cover band from the Philippines perform, and then an absolutely amazing fire show! I took a bajillion pictures, it was an awesome experience I won't soon forget.

When all 12 of the fire performers were standing on each other's shoulders

The finale - standing on tables out in the ocean flinging sparks

We stayed for one night in Koh Samet, the next day it wasn't as nice weather so we headed back in the early afternoon. I am going back at least one more time for a whole weekend though!!

Recently I have been meeting a lot of international people. Bangkok is a very international city, and meeting people from all over the world is one of my favorite things about traveling. I recently joined an online group for expats in Bangkok, and went to an event this past week and met some people. Also there is a weekly get-together for couch surfers/backpackers/expats in Bangkok which I have been to once and really enjoyed. People who love traveling are just really cool, open-minded, friendly people, and I am so thankful there are so many here. The love of traveling really brings together people from very different backgrounds and it's a great thing to experience. 

Also, I have been salsa dancing almost weekly. There is a place that has a free class on Thursdays, and it is so much fun. This past Wednesday me and my friend Kelly (who is an amazing salsa dancer) went to a rooftop sky bar that had it! It was 32 floors up (one of the shorter sky bars) but the view was AWESOME. 

Overall everything has been great, but unfortunately I have been sick all weekend. I had lots of plans to go see temples in the old capital of Ayutthaya but that will have to wait. I started feeling like I was getting the flu on Friday, and one of the Thai teachers took me to the royal clinic. I was feeling really crappy, the doctor said I had a "seasonal cold" and prescribed me 5 different medicines. I slept for 15 hours Friday night and have been resting all weekend but am still pretty sick. I am very thankful for my friends who have been taking care of me, Cara brought me soup and Kelly brought me orange juice and tissues so I don't feel isolated and alone. I don't want to skip any work this week, but I don't want to make my students sick so we'll see! I guess that's all for now, thanks for reading!

For more pictures go to: 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151880540425574.872300.657300573&type=3&l=ea4700d4da

and

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151140370825574.789515.657300573&type=3&l=291bf86b18

~ Elisa

ประเทศไทย

13 days and counting in Thailand! And wow it feels like I've been here so much longer because of how much I've experienced. It's so amazing being totally immersed in a place that is different in pretty much every way from anyplace I've ever been. It's definitely a huge change but so far I've really enjoyed it. Some highlights since my last post: 

Last Saturday (5/26) me and some friends went and explored around where there are some beautiful temples. After seeing a couple, we ended up getting lost and somehow ending up in Chinatown, but it was really cool and the temples were beautiful. I FINALLY took some pictures! 

On Sunday, I went to The Evangelical Church of Bangkok. I went alone, got lost and had to take a taxi a short distance and was rather late, but I'm glad I went. The people I met there were very nice. Planning on visiting another one soon. After church there was a really cool street art festival outside one of the many huge malls. There were artists doing live graffiti, as well as break dancers and skaters. 

So my first official week of teaching mostly consisted of me sitting in the office. Monday us American teachers were introduced at the first assembly to the whole school (somewhat nerve-racking). Also that day we had to get our bank card set up and run other errands. On Tuesday I just helped administer a pre-test in class. On Wednesday and Thursday morning the 5th graders I would normally teach had graduation practice and so I did not have class on those days except for one Thursday afternoon. I am paired with a funny, kind teacher named Sukjai and he led most of the class on Thursday and I helped a bit, and it was good to just watch and learn for me. I have been grading some workbooks and tests and had to come up with a test, but other than that I have hardly seen my class! I hope soon to take all their pictures, holding up name tags so that I can start to learn their names. (And I will probably only learn their American nicknames.. Thai names are difficult.) On Fridays, I am paired up with another American teacher to help teach second grade. This past Friday, we thought we would have graduation practice and not have to teach that day, but last minute found out we actually did have to teach so Kelly (the 2nd grade teacher I am paired with) and I quickly put a lesson plan together and taught 3 classes in a row! It was a bit tiring but fun. Only one of the three classes was well behaved though, and we are still learning how to get those little firecrackers under control. They are so cute, but I think I am glad I am going to be teaching the older kids! So I was somewhat bored that week, but it was an easier transition than some of the other teachers had which I'm thankful for. I'm sure I will want all my weeks to be like that one once school gets going and I am busy working all the time! I was still pretty tired because I am not a morning person and am having to wake up at 5:30 am every day!

This past weekend I got some rest and got some things I needed for my room and for the graduation ceremony which was today (Monday). Me and Cara took motorbike taxis to the Walmart-like store (called Big C), and it was the biggest thrill I've had since being in Thailand for sure. You just sit behind the guy driving and hold on for dear life to a bar behind you, they weave in and out of cars and it was so fun!! Also, I was so happy with the food selection I found at Big C. I got cereal, cheese, peanut butter, and fresh fruits and vegetables, all things which I had been missing and would be very sad to hardly ever have for 10 months. They also had organic soup and gluten-free pasta so I am glad I won't have to go out for every meal which I had been doing till now. I also caved and got a mattress topper, which I think is worth the investment! 

My room 

My room

View from my balcony

Our office

School

Mall

                           

                                      Mall

Today was a holiday, but we had to go to a graduation at school, which they didn't have time to do last year. We all had to wear suits and blazers, I felt/looked SO OLD! Anyway, we had to sit outside and watch it on tiny screens, it was about an hour and a half and part of it were the kids doing cool dances in beautiful costumes so it was somewhat enjoyable. Also, the princess, prince, and the little prince (who I teach once a week because he is in 2nd grade) were there and for a few minutes at the beginning and end of the ceremony we stood in a room and got to see them/bow to them as they walked by! I feel so very privileged to be here and it's just cool thinking about the fact that I was in the same room, standing about 10 feet from royalty. Life is crazy. Well I have to wake up in 5 hours so that's all for now!

To see all of my pictures, go to: 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151821827045574.864840.657300573&type=3&l=5e08619db6

~ E