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

The Land of Smiles, Humidity, and Traffic

Hello from Bangkok, Thailand! It is still so surreal that I am actually here. The past few days have been sensory overload! Here's just a very small part of what I have experienced so far:

Monday to early Wednesday: 28 hours of travel time from Dallas, to San Francisco, to Tokyo, to Bangkok. Thankfully no trouble at all with any of the flights or getting our bags. (I flew with 4 other fellow teachers.) Japan Airlines was great, and the layover in Tokyo made me really excited to visit there in October; I'm planning on visiting my brother who lives there.

Wednesday: Got picked up from the airport, had our first experience of CRAZY Bangkok driving style and traffic, and arrived at our apartments around 7:00 am. We had time to unpack and "rest" until about 12:30. Our apartments are a lot nicer than I had expected! They are somewhat minimal, in my room I have a wardrobe, desk, nightstand, fridge, and a queen-sized bed which I call my "rock bed" because, well, the mattress is so hard it feels almost the same as sleeping on the ground. Unfortunately, no kitchen or cooking appliance of any kind. But I'm very thankful!
After unpacking, the 5 of us ventured out to the nearby main street and decided to get some street food. I ended up getting rice with vegetables, tofu, and congealed pigs blood for less than $1. It was actually pretty good (the blood really tasted like nothing), I am still trying to be able to handle spicy stuff and thankfully it wasn't spicy at all. We wandered around a bit more, and then at 12:30 we went to the mall to get cell phones sorted out. There are 3 people also teaching here for a second year from a school in California, and they were helping us the whole time explaining the various transportation systems, and helping us with the cellphones. They are SO helpful, helping us find our way around and get situated much sooner than if we had to on our own.

The Bangkok mall was an overwhelming experience. It was 5 huge floors, with tons and tons of vendors selling a bajillion products, and tons of people everywhere. One of our guides from California knew just where to go to get our cellphones thankfully. I couldn't get my iPhone unlocked unfortunately so I was given someone's crappy old Nokia, but it works. I had the same sort of thing in Italy and it worked out fine; I think it's good for me to not constantly be relying on a smart phone.
To get back home we had to walk through the mall we were in, through another mall, through ANOTHER mall, to the sky train, connect to the subway, take a bus, and then walk to our apartment. There are so many forms of transportation it's just a whole other world in terms of getting around, but it's pretty cool and I think I am getting the hang of it.

Some overall impressions of what I have seen of Bangkok:

- The people are SO friendly, Thailand is appropriately named "The Land of Smiles" - everyone really does smile at you, which really crosses the language gap.
- It is so stinkin' humid. People from Texas, we think it's humid in Texas... it's got nothing on Thailand. Seriously.
- Traffic and pollution is pretty wild. The way they drive here is so aggressive and would never fly in the States. You have to be pretty patient to get though rush hour.
- You experience every kind of smell in walking even very short distances, it's really weird. And they are usually nasty smells.
- Everything is so cheap, if you convert Thai baht to dollars. My salary won't allow me to be a big spender, but it's great if you are traveling on small budget.
- The food is pretty delicious. It's great for me that hardly any of it has gluten in it. A LOT of it is very spicy, but I'm trying to adjust to that. As is my stomach to all this new crazy food.
- It is so crowded everywhere. You are bumped and jostled all the time whenever you go anywhere.
- The Thai language is difficult to learn but so fun, and pretty hilarious sounding.

Thursday: We got picked up by a van at 6:30 am to go to school! The Chitralada Palace School is, guess what, located on the palace grounds. The grounds are beautiful, with tons of lush plants and a river and armed guards everywhere. The buildings where we teach are not breathtaking or anything, but they are very clean and functional. (Will hopefully post pictures soon.)
We go to the school and did some paperwork, and got shown around all the rooms. We have air conditioned offices, but the classrooms are not. There is also a computer lab and craft/resource room for us to use. At lunch we met a lot of the teachers, and they are all so nice. As a whole, Thai people are some of the nicest people I have met. So helpful and always smiling and welcoming. It turns out that I am teaching 5th grade, and I am paired with a funny, smiling,  really nice Thai counterpart teacher named Suk Jai. (Also once a week I will be helping teach the PRINCE in 2nd grade!) We teach one grammar class to 3 different groups of students in our grade, and tag team a speaking class with another American teacher once a week. 5th and 2nd grade are matched up, so I'll be helping teaching the prince!
We are going to have a week of teaching with our Thai counterpart, and then I believe after that we will be more and more on our own in the classroom. School starts Monday and I am nervous but excited! It will be a new, amazing, sometimes hard, sometimes fun experience!

Friday (today): Got picked up for school again at 6:30. Soon after we got there we went to the bank to set up our accounts for how we will be receiving our salary, and then went to get our pictures taken for the teacher badges we are getting for the palace school. After that was lunch, then I set up the bulletin boards in my classroom (with materials last year's teacher thankfully left for me). We left school at 4:00 and were home around 5:00.
One other distinctly Thai experience I need to elaborate on: riding an open air public bus. It's just one of those things where you think "I am really getting the full Thailand experience here" while you are on it. The bus literally does not come to a complete stop when you are getting on or off of it. It's usually super crowded, and the way driving is there, you are desperately trying not to fall totally on top of the tiny Thai people around you. Also, it's disrespectful to put your hand over someone's head, so it limits where you can hold onto in the bus. You are also trying to pay the person collecting money (8 baht, about 25 cents) while keeping your balance. I know it doesn't sound fun, but I just love experiencing and getting fully immersed in other cultures like that. So much better than taking taxis everywhere and staying in plush hotels.
Tonight we ventured out to a new district, Sukumwit, and had sangria and tapas at a Spanish restaurant, giving our stomachs a rest from the new and exotic Thai food. There are so many white people in that area, and it was so weird to see that haha. The only other white people I had seen the past 3 days were my fellow teachers.

And now, I finally get to sleep in some tomorrow. We are planning on going to the historical center to see some temples and stuff, and I may go to a street art festival too. I can't believe I am going to be here for 10 months, I don't think that is going to set in until I am really teaching english in the classroom by myself. Sorry this post is so long, there's just so much new stuff that I have been absorbing and this is only a fraction of it. It's a totally different world and really nothing is familiar, but for some reason, I find that truly exhilarating. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me in the coming year, but I know it's going to be so amazing.

Well I'm off to go sleep on my rock bed now. Thanks for reading and feel free to email me anytime! (elisafisher04@gmail.com)

~ Elisa

Also, I promise I will take and post pictures soon. :)

A New Travel Experience: Thailand

Hello all!

Well the travel bug has bitten me and is not letting go. I am graduating on May 12th and I have recently accepted a job teaching English in the Royal Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, for about 10 months. I leave May 19th and will be there till around April 1st. I am thinking of going to Australia after that as well but that's a ways off. Anyways, I have resurrected this blog and am going to try to keep you all updated on my time in Thailand through this! We will see if I do better than I did blogging when I studied abroad in Italy. 

~ Elisa

Oh right, I have a blog.

Hey everybody. Soo looks like I made it halfway through the semester blogging and then just got way to busy! So sorry about that! I am currently still living in Florence, in a hostel by myself. I am here till June 1st, when I am going to work for a family on a farm near Ljubljana, Slovenia (through workaway.info - check it out) till June 18th, when I fly to Oslo, Norway, spend the night there, then go to Haugesund, Norway to stay with my aunt's friend and her family. I'll be there till July 4th, when I go to Andalucia, Spain, to work for a family there till July 19th. I then come back to Firenze and depart from here to go back to Dallas on July 21st. Whew!

I'm really thankful that I am getting to stay in Europe so long, and would appreciate your prayers as I am traveling by myself! But anyways, I guess now I am going to try to remember what I did the weeks after my last blog post from spring break.

Friday, April 1st - Siena & San Gimignano
This day I was actually planning on going to the beach at Viareggio with Haley H., and her friends Carla and Kelly. Woke up early to catch the trail there, walked in the coldish weather to the train station in beach clothes and got lots of weird looks, and then it turns out there was a train strike and we couldn't go. Boo. But it turned out alright, because I rushed home, changed, and then made it just in time to go with SAI to their Siena trip I had heard about! It was free and they had extra room on the bus so it worked out great.

My terrible picture of the Duomo of Siena

We got to Siena late morning, my friend Amanda and my roommates Alyssa and Andrea were also on the trip which was nice. We had a short tour of the town which basically consists of the Duomo, the main square, and little streets.

Duomo

Piazza del Campo. They have a huge horse race in this main piazza every year

After the tour, Amanda and I wanted to explore Siena because we had only seen like two places there. But then for lunch we had a wine tasting that lasted like 2 hours, and then we had to leave which was super lame. The wine tasting was pretty good but I was bummed that I spent more time inside learning about wine than seeing Siena. Anyways, then we were supposed to go to Montepulciano or some town that I hadn't seen before, but for some reason we instead went to San Gimignano, where I had already been. We were there a total of like 30 minutes and then had to leave. I love San Gimignano though, such a nice little town. Soo yeah overall it was a nice trip, but I kinda wish I had done it on my own. I love how diverse Italy is and all the little day trips you can take to those little towns. 

Saturday, April 2nd - Verona

Me, Amanda, Eliza, and Haley P. went to Verona for the day! We took the train there and got there around noonish, wandered around, had lunch, and just explored the rest of the afternoon. Verona is a beautiful town that is neither too big nor too small, perfect for a day trip.

Rome isn't the only place with a Coliseum!

Main Piazza where we had lunch

Love the colorful Verona buildings w/ the flowers on the balconies.

If you didn't already know, Verona is probably most famous for being the place where supposedly Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet took place. The main attraction is Juliet's house, with the balcony where she said the famous lines, a statue of Juliet where if you hold her breast it gives you good luck or something, and a wall where lovers write their names. If you have seen Letters to Juliet, however, there's not reallyyy a place to write actual letters to Juliet. I think you can like email her or something, and there's a room above one of the shops around there that has some framed letters to Juliet, but it's nothing like the movie.

The wall

Juliet's house & the famous balcony (bottom right)

After we saw Juliet's house we wandered around to the other side of the river, saw two beautiful churches, relaxed in a nice park, and wandered to the top of a hill for a fabulous view of the whole city. 

It was getting to be sunset, and we decided it was about time to head back to Florence. The train station was a bit of a walk from the center of Verona, so we wandered around trying to find wi-fi, and eventually had a hotel receptionist look up train times for us. But then... problem. We had missed the last train out of Verona and there wasn't one till 4:00 AM! Soo we were basically homeless in Verona for the night! We went and saw a movie (No Strings Attached) in Italian, without subtitles, and then wandered around Verona for as long as we could, it was actually pretty boring and we were getting soo tired. We went to the train station and tried to find where to buy tickets but couldn't, it was pretty freaky being there at 3:00 in the morning actually. But our train finally came and we could buy tickets on the train. It was actually a sleeper train coming from Germany and we finally made it back to Firenze around 6 or 7 in the morning. Crazy! Lesson learned: Check the train times going AND coming when you are traveling somewhere!

Ok I'll hopefully blog again soooon! Thanks for reading, ciao!