Plans?? What are plans??

If you are a person who likes structure, plans and complete certainty in any situation, dont come to Thailand. You will be the most stressed out, wound up and generally peeved off person in the country. Things here never work out the way they say they do, and people never stick to plans. They prefer instead to take things easy, and do whatever it is that they feel like doing.

For example, yesterday was another day where I was ready to teach, and was kind of looking forward to it. But instead, the children were given another day to plan their sports week next week, and myself and the other foreign teachers were whisked off in the school minibus. Those who needed to spent their hour or so in immigration did so, while the rest of us, along with three or four teachers, went shopping in a local market. This was followed by some lunch at the expense of the school, where the food was delicious and plentiful (never doubt the potential of a Thai streetside outdoor 'restaurant').

We arrived home at about 4pm, and at about half 5 I was settling down for a skype chat with the sister when my housemate shouts down that, without any major notice, one of the teachers had rang her to say that she is taking us to a party hosted by one of the teachers, and we were to be ready in 5 minutes. We were whisked off to some remote house out by the town's reservoir where a sunset party was taking place. The host was celebrating his son's acceptance to a prestigious academy to study physics, and he himself had gotten a promotion. Here in Thailand, they are not shy about showing off their own achievements or the success of their children. Also, they are very into showing off their houses, mostly the structure rather than the interior, and garden parties are the perfect way to show your colleagues what you have gained from your hard work.

The party was a complete success. There was hardly an alcoholic drink in sight, with only the men having maybe a beer or two or a bit of the local spirit with ice. This did not stop the party atmosphere though. There was karaoke (a must have at a Thai party) and everyone is fighting for a go. There was also dancing, mainly Thai style, by the women, accompanied by traditional Thai singing from the enthusiastic singers. Myself and Saadia were encouraged to perform a song or two, so we chose two Michael Jackson numbers, which had everyone singing. We also did a bit of dancing and we got to practice the little bit of Thai dancing we learnt in Bangkok during training and orientation two weeks ago. We were also sent home with bags of chicken and rice, as the food (which was all cooked by the host's wife!!) was plentiful despite the fact that there were about 40 people there, all digging in. I have to say, it was a really fun night.

Although nothing in Thailand is ever planned or organised well, the end result if one is willing to go with the flow and take in new experiences is fantastic. Sure who needs organisation when you are having fun?

First Day At School, Minus a Packed Lunch

Starting a new job is stressful! On days like this one needs calm and cool. One needs to be focused and fresh. One does not need a snake in one's shower. But of course, this is Thailand, and a snake in my shower was exactly what I got this morning. We were thankfully saved by a worker in the school who killed it with a brush, and then informed us that it was in fact poisonous (lovely thought to start the day with). The strangeness didnt stop there though.

I never thought of how strange I was going to look to the students in the school. These children have grown up here in rural Thailand, where they have maybe 3 or 4 tv channels which show all Thai tv, all their advertising is with Thai people, and the closest they have gotten to the outside world in this town is Tesco. Everything else is authentic Thai unless you go into the big towns. Considering all of this, it is not strange that they would find me so fascinating, especially my skin. Here in Thailand, being white is a fashion statement, the same that in Ireland we put tan into our moisturiser (the grass is always greener I suppose, except this time its white). I have been named by the teachers in the school as Omo, which translates to very white,or as they say, Snow White. I have to say, I was always a fan of that movie.

So today, after being told that I was not teaching for the day, suddenly had 4 classes. Scared stiff wasn't the word. I have 22 different classes a week, 1st year and 5th year classes, and ranging in ability from really good, to barely able to say their name at the age of 16. The classes are about 25 - 35 in size, which feels ok with the younger group as they are fresh and new and not as confident, but the older crowd are a little intimidating. Although I think they were impressed when they realised I knew what Gangam Style was (they are obsessed with it here!), so major brownie points there.

On a separate note, myself and Saadia were brought to an aerobics class the other night by some of the teachers in the school. I have never done aerobics, but I know that in Irish weather I was reluctant to partake. Aerobics in 25 degree heat while being eaten alive by bugs is .... an experience .... I would repeat it with the help of better clothing and bug repellent, but we have located Yoga classes in the local hospital, so we are well set on them! When in Thailand do as the Thai's do I suppose. Well we have done turkish toilets, indescribable meats, and snakes, may as well do something the Thai's do well.

Sawadiikha

Creatures and Comforts

I am not really sure what has happened since I last posted. All the days here seem to blur into one long sticky hot day.

Well, lets start with a few comforts. We now have a washing machine, which means clean clothes!!! And, most importantly, they have installed brand new electric showers into both of the shower rooms, which means NO MORE COLD SHOWERS!!! I never thought I would be so happy to have a but of warm water. So overall, there have been quite a lot of home improvements.

Continuing with improvements, I can now negotiate my way through ordering food at a food stall. I can ask what it is and understand the main meats, I can ask how much it is, I can then say the number of, for example chicken skewers, that I want, and then I can say thank you and goodbye. This may seem easy to a lot of you, and you may be thinking 'after two weeks I thought you would be a lot further than that'. But this is Thai, not French. If you make one wrong tone, like you go up in tone rather than down in tone, they literally look at you like you are crazy. They seem to have a complete inability to work out what you are saying. I do not know whether this is because I am Farang (white westerner) and they don't have any patience for me, or whether they really think I am talking jibberish. But either way, its the way it is, and I simply have to make sure I learn my tones in my words. Will need to wait for wifi in the house to improve. Youtube really can be educational.

One thing that I cannot get used to is the bugs. Not only do they eat these things (yes I mean street carts full of cockroaches and little worms fried in some unknown sauce), but no matter how much bug spray you put on, the mosquitos and ants and everything else that I see but do not wish to consider seem to devour you.I counted 9 bites at the top of my left leg alone last night. Anthisan is my new best friend.

Overall though, we are learning a lot and surviving quite well.We have sort of worked out the bus system, which seems to be quite limited. It appears that unless we have a private mode of transport, we cannot get from the main town to our rural town after 6pm. This makes any sort of socialising quite difficult and limited. Although myself and Saadia are both in agreement that to stay here on the weekends would result in cabin fever. I think a bit of travelling is needed after this week.

We get our timetables for our classes tomorrow, so hopefully I will have a better idea of my life for the next 5 months here by this time tomorrow.Fingers crossed.

Sawatdiikha.

Bye Bye Bangkok

Where to start! What a hectic few days!

I have moved into my new house in Surin with another English teacher, and am currently typing from a desk in the staff room as I have no wifi yet, so this blog will be a little fast paced, and will miss out on quite a lot I reckon. This is partly because it spans three days, and partly because I have forgotten my mosquito bite cream and my ankle is sending me delirious with the itch.

So, to start with our tour day which took place three days ago. We headed off at the ungodly hour of 6:30am, and firstly stopped off at a coconut farm which also had an orchid farm at the back. I took some absolutely stunning shots of the orchids (see below). We then moved onto the floating market. This was the part which I was looking forward to the most, but ultimately found quite disappointing. The ride to the market was the best bit of it. We all took long boats along the river to the market, and got to see the floating houses and neighbourhoods. It is slightly eerie, as bar the odd bucket with shampoo and toothbrushes, the whole place has a sort of 'hasnt been touched by time' feel about it. The houses are full of flowers and nice little statues, and the owners take such good care of themselves, but I can still imagine at night that the neighbourhood would resemble a scene from 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

We then moved to the King's Grand Palace and the Royal Temple, which were unbelievably stunning. The detail in every building was incredible. Every one had beautiful paintings depicting stories and mosaics decorating statues. It was so beautiful you didnt know which way to turn your head. There was a lovely piece also that impressed me. In the middle of the temples was a little area which depicted Buddhism, Hinduism and possibly Islam, I cannot be sure of the last. It brings with it the idea of inclusion and acceptance of all religions. Acceptance of the beliefs of others and general goodness is something which I am coming across again and again here. People are ridiculously friendly, and its hard to adjust to the idea that people are being nice just to be nice. They do not want anything in return, they are just nice because they believe that it is the right thing to do.

Anyway, moving on to the next day, we were all (very stressfully) herded onto the coaches to our destinations, and after a pretty nice 6 hours drive through the countryside, we arrived in Surin, the capitol of the province. Myself and my housemate Saadia were then met by a lovely man and woman, and were driven to our accommodation in Rattanaburi, a little town an hour from Surin. Our house is on the school grounds, which comprises of 10 massive buildings. It is closer to a University than a school really. We met a few of the teachers, who were so friendly and helped us with a few Thai words, and then were taken to the market where the woman with us bargained to the best of her ability to get food cheaper for us. We were also given bikes (see below, every girls dream bike!) completely free by the school, and we all have our own fridges in our room, as well as three meals a day given to us for free until the school starts next week. The hospitality has been amazing!

Although there have been things that will take a bit of getting used to. For example, the ghekkos are HUGE. I mean massive. I saw one a few minutes ago and it was the length of my forearm, and you hear them run before u see them which is freaky enough without them running right in front of you. This, along with the praying mantis on the front door, the hopping crickets and beetles with wings, the moths the size of your hand, the millions of mosquitos that like to think your feet are dinner, and the fact that all the locals in the town think we are the most interesting thing since the invention of rice will make for an interesting few days ahead.

Sawatdiikha.

Bangkok Day Seven; Signing and Shopping

Another mad day. Never been so active! I swear if I don't lose at least 10 pounds on this trip it will be as a result of the amount of rice I am eating counteracting the buckets of sweat I am shedding. It is so lovely and cool in the hotel with the air con up full at usual, but the minute you go outside the wall of heat just hits you. Ten minutes and you are dripping.

Although, despite the lack of comfort outside, I had a good day. A lesson on Thai culture began the day, with some light on some interesting aspects of Thai culture and education. This was followed by the long contract signing. It involved about 70 pages, where a signature was required on every single one. But, despite the ache in the hand, I was thrilled coming out. I am no longer unemployed! Its a really great feeling knowing I am finally doing what I want, and I am doing it in sunshine!

A good shopping spree was in order after all these formalities and signing, and myself and a few of the girls on the training week headed off to a local weekend market. I wish I had brought my camera with me to show you all, but it was just fantastic. Literally anything you want, from clothes to food to homewares to gifts to pets were here. I spent a lot for Thailand, but came out with stuff that I would have paid 6 times more for at home. I finally have clothes which are suitable for teaching in this heat, and living in this heat, and they are so colourful and new and cheap! What more could a girl want?

Bangkok Day Five; Why Not Give a 9 Year Old Machete?

It is ridiculous how out of practice I am with doing ACTUAL work. I have spent the last two years folding jeans, and it became second nature to me. But today I got a taster of the next 6 months, as today was the first day of my TEFL briefing before heading off to my placement. 9 - 6 were the hours, and although they flew due to the sheer number of activities and interaction we all took part in, it was still tiring.

Although my tiredness must have been nothing compared to that experienced by our entertainers at our welcome reception last night. With all the travelling that people did the day before, yesterday was a bit of a relaxing day. At 6pm we were all brought into a buffet reception downstairs where we all get to taste absolutely incredible Thai finger food. I swear, Irish cooking hasn't a patch on the food here. Such amazing tastes. The trick is not to ask what it actually is that you are eating.

At about 7pm, we began to be entertained by some local students. They performed a number of Muay Thai, which is a form of self defence and traditional martial arts. These kids were incredible! From the ages of about 18 down to 5 .... yes 5!! .... these children have mastered a number of impressive and complicated routines of Muay Thai. Most were done with long batons or arm shields, but at the end, two nine year old girls came out and fought with machetes. Now, they were blunt from the looks of it, but they are 9 years old, and they are wielding machetes! It was insane! Extremely impressive, and the children are well taught by their teachers and by their monk who would see no major harm done to them (although one teenage girl did break her nose as a result of a wrong step). Overall, the night was a complete success, even if I am now terrified to say no to my students. Never underestimate the potential of a 10 year old Thai child with a stick.

Bangkok Day Four; Death by noodle soup.

After a quiet night in last night with a movie and bed, today was the day of getting to know everybody in the course. After an interesting breakfast of soup, pasta and toast (I will never stop missing my white pudding and sausages), we all went into the hour-long welcome orientation. Here we were told the necessary things to keep in mind, and some of them were pretty interesting. For example, if I bring someone younger than me to dinner, I have to pay ..... must be expensive to socially dine here if you are 60. Note to self, bribing your students with a dinner out will lead to bankruptcy.

Another thing that was mentioned was with regards to eating noodle soup with chopsticks. In Thailand they don't eat with chopsticks all the time. They only eat them with noodle soup. But when I finish my noodle soup (which I must do as it is considered rude to waste food) I have to place my chopsticks on top of my bowl. If I put the chopsticks into my bowl, then that means that I want to die ..... Yes, you heard right. DIE. Apparently putting chopsticks into noodle soup is an age old tradition involved with funerals or death, and to do so will indicate to the waiter that you intend to throw yourself off the nearest bridge.

This place gets stranger by the day.

Bangkok Day Three; Chopsticks and Taxis

Whoever thought that using two thin sticks to pick up thin noodles must have wanted to kill a lot of time over dinner. But, when in Thailand, one must do as the Thai's do, especially when the mention of a fork brings a confused look on the waiters face. This was the predicament facing me when ordering my first bowl of noodle soup last night. Myself and Patricia had ventured out beyond our mad tourist-filled road, and had found a little Thai ... you couldnt really call it a restaurant .... place with food would be more appropriate. After tackling the noodles, finding a little bar with a very good guitarist, a few Chang Thai beers and a good chat, we both found ourselves doing the best thing we have done since we came to Thailand. Thai massages. These are INCREDIBLE. Our mini ones involved a half an hour of lying on the most comfortable deck chair I have ever encountered, and a lovely little Thai lady massaging our feet and legs with lavender oil. So relaxing! Will definitely be going for more. Thats the key to the carefree attitude of the Thai's, getting your feet rubbed. Valium can kiss my newly cultured ass. 

This morning was the time for packing up all the t-shirts and baggy light trousers that I have accumulated in the markets and move to the other side of town to begin my orientation with TEFL International. I spent so much time worrying about remembering everybody's names and remembering all that I learnt in my course last year, that I gave little thought to how I was going to actually get there. It involved a tuk tuk that took us down the road (my first tuk tuk ride! those things can do some speed) and then that followed a taxi ride that took over an hour as the taxi driver didnt have a clue where we were going. This lack of local knowledge, coupled with at least 5 near death experiences with a motorcycles, and a number of stressful calls to the hotel to try and find the place, led to one very stressed Amy. 

But, despite it all, I have arrived! After the months of excitement and preparation, and the thousands of euro, I have reached my destination. I will sign my contract in 3 days and from that point onwards I can call myself an employed teacher! Between now and then should be an adventure, another to add to the dozens I have already experienced since coming here. 

Bangkok Day Two; A Good Deed

I have started now to become adjusted to the madness of the city, and once one does acclimatise to the chaos, one finds that there is a lot of little things to see. The people here and the way they live their life are very interesting. Everywhere you go you see shrivelled up old Thai men and women, skin like leather, who have clearly spent their life walking this city. They sit everywhere and anywhere, but never doing anything, just sitting watching the world go by. Sometimes they have little symbols of their Buddha who they do good deeds during the day for. I encountered one of these good deeds today which solidified for me the Thai's as being good natured people.

Myself and a fellow TEFLer James (whose blog you can find here; http://amobleyinasia.wordpress.com/) were taking a stroll through the city and we came across a vast green area with temples surrounding it. We were taking pictures and discussing whether to visit one of these temples when a Thai woman approached us. She was telling us not to walk on the green area as it is marshy and dangerous. This moved on to her giving us advice about where to go to see the best of Thai culture, and she gave us directions to a river where a boat will bring us to see all the temples for a lot cheaper than us just walking into them. She was so nice, and gave a good 10 minutes of her time to us, making sure we knew the reasonable price of the tuk tuk to the river so they don't overcharge us, and drawing out directions and the name in Thai and English for us to give to the driver. This woman did not need to do this, nor did she need to struggle to tell us in English, not draw things for us. She did this because this is what they believe; that good deeds are important for both those who do the deed, and those who receive the deed.

A fellow TEFLer told me later that she attended a Buddhist birthday party yesterday. This party is not like Irish parties, where copious amounts of drink are consumed and the semi-sober party members are entertained at the expense of the one who couldnt hold the last vodka. No. This party involved meditations to Buddha, and then a gesture which I think is nicer than any material present. The attendees at the party all line up and touch the birthday boy/girl. By doing this, they mean to pass any good kharma they have earned from their good deeds lately into the birthday boy/girl. They literally intend to give them goodness for their birthday. In a country where money is scarce for most, good deeds are important to the Thai people, and to give them to another person is, in my opinion, perfect.

Til tomorrow,

Sawatdeekha.

Bangkok Day One; Culture Shock

Bangkok can only really be described in one word .... insane.

Now, how that word is interpreted is really up to you. If you don't mind at least 6 life threatening near misses in every taxi journey, or inexplicable smells coming from each street corner, or little Thai men shouting 'whats the craic' at you to try and get you into their Tuk-Tuks (the bottle-white skin must give me away), or crowds so big and busy that you cant keep your thoughts near you let alone your friends, then Bangkok is the place for you. If you don't like those things, or cant put up with them at least, dont come to Bangkok. Simple.

Its quite a shock when you arrive I have to say. You can do all the googling you want on the city before you come, but nothing can prepare an amateur traveller for the wall of humidity that hits you when you walk out of the air conditioned airport. We arrived at 9pm and we took a few minutes to get our breath. The air is wet and clammy, and even moving your head from side to side as you look for a taxi can result in a wave of heat and sweat. According to the locals though, this is cold .... I hate to think what awaits me in Surin next week ....

After arriving at the hotel last night, and following a slight bit of confusion and panic over the reservation or non reservation of my room, I settled down to a well needed sleep after 36 hours of no sleep, only to find that my room is located over a bar. A bar with really loud music. Not fun. Luckily bars seem to close at about half 2 here, or at least the music goes down, so I had a nice lie in til 11. We then made our way to the MBK shopping centre. This place is massive! 5 floors of shopping, with everything you want from gadgets to massages to clothes to home wears. It took us a good 4 hours to get around it, and we didnt see it all. Stuff here is mad cheap too. I got three skirts for about 20 euro, a lovely purse for 4 euro, even the taxis are cheap with a 20 minute drive costing only 5 euro between the three of us. The food is equally as cheap, with a take away thai meal costing between 1-2 euro. Although we havent been brave enough to try anything authentically thai yet with our stomachs still recovering from the long sleepless flight yesterday. Coffee, fruit and a subway is all we have been able to manage so far.

Plans for tonight? A few drinks on our road; the tourist-mad Khao San Road. With a night full of dodging men shouting 'ping pong' at you (google it, I just cant explain it) and sussing out the local beer, no doubt there will be more to tell tomorrow. Til then, sa-wat-dee-kha :-)

Is That Snow I See?

Happy Christmas everyone!

No, I havent lost my mind, or acquired a time machine. It is Christmas Day in the Dalton household! With my imminent departure from the continent tomorrow, the Mother has decided that Christmas Day will not be missed and we are all celebrating today instead. As we speak the turkey is roasting in the oven, the wine is mulling on the hob, Bing is crooning in the corner, and the kitchen smells of spiced cinnamon from the Yankee Candle on the island. Even the sunset is on our side and has decided to put on a breathtaking display of colour. Its perfection.

As tomorrow approaches, the expected nerves and desperate blubbering and panic have not arrived. Instead, its more an atmosphere of calm and relaxation mixed with excitement and anticipation. Not to mention the OCD-related joy of looking at a perfectly packed suitcase. Nothing beats that really ;-). When it comes to walking through the departure gates it may be a different atmosphere .... I hate airports on good days ... but I suppose its just another hurdle to overcome, another experience to learn from, like the numerous I have learnt from so far in my hop across the globe.

So tomorrow I leave on a jet plane, dont know when I'll be back again. Next time I write, I will be in Bangkok Thailand.