An early Christmas present

As I mentioned I now have a bicycle and thus a bit more freedom to explore outside Li. I've been kind of laying low the last while due to the money I spent on the netbook, plus it was starting to become expensive going to Chiang Mai every weekend. Now there isnt a whole lot to do or see in the town of Li itself, hence my eagerness to get a way to travel outside the place on my own. A quick word on the bike itself: its too small and weighs a fricking tonne, in short its a piece of crap.

The fun of the day started with me checking the bike to see if it was slightly roadworthy. The saddle came off in my hand..... Apparently the nuts holding it on had come off (and run away?) so I went to the hardware shop and got new ones. Once I had done this small piece of DIY I went and did a small bit of shopping and decided to have lunch (wasnt feeling particularly keen to jump on the bike just yet). By the way there was something going on at the school today. I got woken up a few hours earlier than I wished by blaring music. I went down every now and again to look at it and it seemed to be an adult version of our sports day so I wasnt too interested in hanging about. I spent most of the morning reading and checking emails before I got near the bike.



Anyway, after lunch I decided to do something with my day, having been pretty lazy for a week or so now. So I packed a few provisions (water, camera, suncream) and hopped on my piece of crap, sorry, my bike and began making my way towards a temple I had seen on the road to Chiang Mai which was on a big hill just outside Li. I figures if I could get up to it I might get a good view and some decent pics. I got to the temple, took a picture of the big statue at the front and made my way to the steps up the hill. I couldnt see looking up just how many there were but there was definitely more than at Doi Suthep (which famously has 300). It was also pretty steep and almost completely deserted. I got the impression it doesnt get that many visitors. So I get to the top of the steps eventually having paused along the way to take pics of the view which was quite good already. So I turn the corner a little bit excited and realise there are MORE STEPS! Well I'd come this far so I braced myself for another effort and dragged my lazy ass up the last few steps. Upon arriving on the top I stop thinking about how hard it was to get there because the view was simply breathtaking and the pictures scarcely do it justice. I stayed up there for a long time because I had the place to myself and it was just so peaceful and beautiful. I felt an extraordinary sense of calm when I was up there that I havent often felt before. After a while I left my little perch and moved to the the other spur beside it from where I could actually see Li kind of. Getting to this spot wasnt the easiest as there was no path or steps just rocks.



After a while I realised the sun was sinking and it was time to go. I made my way down the hill and hopped on my bike back home. I will probably return to this little roost any time I feel the need for solitude and reflection over the course of my stay in Li. While cycling back home my thoughts turned to why I came to this part of the world. It was for moments like this that I had made the journey across the world. For an all too brief time I was on my own at the top of a hill in Thailand gazing peacefully at a beautiful landscape a long, long way from home. The sense of happiness and of vindication in my decision to embark on this whole adventure is difficult to describe. I was profoundly happy and the day didnt end there......

As I mentioned there was some kind of community games on at the school. Well by the time I got home and showered it was dark and a party had started not too far from my front door. Curious I wandered over and watched a band playing on a makeshift stage to a crowd of noisy thais happily tucking into dinner. At this point I was accosted by two guys who didnt speak any english. I recognised one of them as the school handyman and they brought me to a table of school staff I didnt really recognise. They were determined to feed me (you can eat thai food?) and gave me some drinks (you can drink thai whiskey?) for the evening. I learned that the games had been between the various hospitals in the province of Lamphun and that our local hospital had won overall. So I spent the night drinking with people who spoke little or no english and watched the show. I tried to take a few pics of the …....performers but they didnt come out so well. I also got up to dance once or twice but as soon as I did I was surrounded by a gang of my M4 students who thought it was the best thing ever to see me dance. After a bit I headed off at what I assumed to be early (10pm or so) but everyone was heading back to their respective villages so the party kind of petered out not long after I left and I was able to sleep peacefully after a great day in thailand!

Teaching Part 2

The kids are getting a tad rowdier as the semester goes on. This is especially true of the boys who seem content to spend most classes battering each other. I constantly ask them questions and make them take stuff down off the board to keep them active in the class and usually stick an activity or exercise at the end of each class to reinforce what ive been trying to teach. This often has some hilarious results like the recent class I taught about Senses in Science. I spent the class going over the basics, how many senses, what organs do you use for each etc. Then at the end I set a few questions from the book to test if they listened to anything I said. One of these questions was: “What do you use to look at a painting” in relation to their sensory organs. Now as with any exercise I give in class there are usually maybe two or three versions of answers which get copied by the others. Usually this works out ok but today some bright spark decided he could see paintings with his ears so about ten of the kids came up to me with this answer. Once I explained to them what they had just written down they were less than pleased with whoever they copied off. They clearly understood what I told them they had written down but they were too damn lazy to work it out for themselves and put their own answer. Most of the kids are quite capable of answering most of the stuff I ask but they are too bloody lazy. These kids spend most of the class talking amongst themselves and ignoring me till I stand in front of them and ask them something about what ive just said. That shuts them up till I move on to another part of the class.

For any games I play they get really competitive and gets the whole class' attention. I had one where they had to guess how many paperclips were being touched to their hands or fingers while blindfolded. One of the girls got all right and there was a great roar! Whenever I try to play a game it can take an age to explain or get anyone to volunteer in order to show it. Thai students are very shy and dont like getting up in front of people especially their peers. This means in order to show games I must pick a student at random. I've found a fun way (for me) to do this. Each student in each class is assigned a number (for MEP 31 students 1-31) so all I have to do is pick a number at random and voila I have a volunteer! This unfortunate soul will get pushed up by their relieved friends and I can get the game underway. Of course once the game has been shown to them everyone gets involved and im swamped by volunteers so it gets easier after the first attempt.

I also gave my first Math test recently which ran a bit smoother than I expected. The results were as I expected with some of the students passing with flying colours while others put anything down and escaped to play outside asap. I had to set an MCQ which I wouldnt have if given a choice. It gives the poor students a chance but doesnt test the good students. I made two copies because I thought cheating would be rampant but everyone was quiet and kept to themselves. If I can get some of the middle of the road students to learn a few things then I will feel like I am making some progress in my classes. The mid-term exams will be the litmus test for that.

What else to say? I havent been bribing the kids just yet though ive been tempted at times. I have also needed to shout in one or two classes because everyone is talking and I even got angry in one class when one of the kids jumped out of her seat and knocked over a glass. She had been fighting with the person beside her for the whole class and it had been annoying me. Once the kids realised I was angry it went silent for a while but once I calmed down it went noisy again. Anyway ive spent the last few weeks holed up in Li because between the netbook and sending a parcel home to roscommon im a bit out of pocket so cheaper to stay home. Im sure i'll spend a whack in Phuket and Phi Phi over the New Year as well. I'm living a pretty spartan lifestyle here in Li, I reckon I survived the last week on about 500-600 baht. Thats a tenner in euros give or take.....

Thai driving

Whether it is on the bus, in a songthaew or some other mode of transport there is a certain level of risk involved that you wouldnt get back home. For example, I got the bus to and from Chiang Mai recently and it had two doors, one at the front and one at the rear. For the whole journey these were wide open and people were sleeping on their seats nearby. It could have been so simple to slip off the chair and fall out. But of course they dont think about that here in Thailand. They are much more carefree and dont spend time agonising over what might be, they just get on with it. Songthaews are covered pickups with a gap in the back to climb in (see above) so you could also fall out of this as i nearly did going up Doi Suthep! After that you have the motorbikes (mostly mopeds really) which most people have. There are some kids in my first year (M1) class who drive them to school which is kind of scary. Of course you will never see anyone wearing a helmet (though i have seen them used as kind of baskets) and usually there are 3 or 4 people packed onto a bike, each clinging to each other to stay on. Unthinkable in Western society.

Then of course are the fabled tuk-tuks (see image below). These are essentially 3 wheel bikes with a driving seat and space in the back for n amount of passengers (n being how ambitious the driver is at that point in time). These guys think they own the place, big enough to bully bikes out of the way and small enough to nip in between cars and vans (pronounced wans) they are quite good at elbowing their way to the front of a queue whenever traffic is stopped. They also have the added advantage of being completely open so you can enjoy the scenery and toxic fumes of the place you are in. This is especially bad in Bangkok as it is smothered in fumes, i felt a little light-headed after my first tuk-tuk journey in that city.

On top of all this you have the Thai driving style. This basically means do whatever the hell you want on the road. Want to jump two lanes and get down a side road? Go for it! Sure the cars in the lanes you are crossing have brakes for a reason right? They also have a tendency to drive in the middle of the road (especially on corners), overtake in crazy places (on corners again) but they do blare their horns to warn oncoming traffic they are doing something stupid! If you are on a motorbike you have to have your senses about you to cope with all this as well as the complimentary random lane changing for no reason (they basically weave across the road for the craic) because if you dont then you get an earful of carhorn or hit. This of course means you have the bikes weaving crazily across the road, if only to avoid the cars. I once saw a car in Chiang Mai turn to go into a car park from the middle lane of a big road and almost take out a bike because the idiot never looked to see was anyone in the inside lane! Fortunately this biker was obviously used to this type of thing as he just veered wildly, almost fell off and kept going without batting an eye.

During any of these journeys it is every person for themselves. If you cant hold on then you are going to have an unpleasant journey. Seat belts are non-existent except maybe in actual cars or minibuses (wans). This is a country remember where you pack as much stuff or as many people onto a small area as possible. Seatbelts restrict this so they just get taken out. Most of the time vehicles will be overcrowded (i think i have a different interpretation of overcrowded than thais) so you just grab whatever is to hand and hold on (like the dart at rush hour except twice as bad).

Anyway i got my bicycle this week finally so i have a bit more freedom and can take a few trips outside of the town without relying on public transport. Its a piece of junk, frankly, but the brakes work (sort of) so it should do the job. I'm sure the sight of a farang on a bicycle is bound to cause some accidents due to people staring at me while driving and so not looking where they are going but hey that's not my problem! Hopefully i dont get taken out by one of them trying to get a closer look though :)

Drinking and a new laptop

On Friday afternoon i jumped in a songthaew headed for CM to go for an important (cough) dinner with OEG. They had invited those of us based up north to it as we couldnt make the one they have planned for BKK closer to Christmas. Now usually i get the bus to CM but as it was the afternoon what with me working half the day (i say work, classes got cancelled due to the king's bday so i was on the internet) i couldnt get the bus so i instead had 3 hours in a songthaew to look forward to. This meant sitting on a hard bench in the back of a truck for 3 hours though i did have to switch songthaews halfway so that gave my ass a break for oh all of 2 minutes. Anyway, despite this, i made it safely to CM with a thoroughly painful posterior and aimed for the "Little Bird" hostel. This would be my home for the next 3 nights although i was booked in under one group for one night and under another for the other two. This proved a bit complex for the staff so i spent a little time sorting this out and making sure we all had beds for the respective nights.

By this time the gang from OEG had returned from visiting one of the other schools in Nan with the three guys teaching there in tow. I met them at the hotel we were having dinner in (on OEG). They had just enjoyed a 5 hour car journey so were a little tired themselves though they were surprised to hear i had taken a songthaew all the way. Mostly you wouldnt be in one for too long so it is a bit odd. Anyway we enjoyed a lovely buffet meal (i particularly enjoyed the veal sausage in bbq sauce) and had a laugh basically. It was all very informal but i had to tell my school it was important to get away in time. After dinner us teachers went on a mad session and i got hammered pretty quickly. I had been through a hectic two week period and had a lot of steam to blow off, which i did quite emphatically.

The next day the other group arrived off their overnight buses from down south pretty early. I went down and met them at the gate of the hostel so they would know it was the right one. They wouldnt come too close to me as i was reeking of booze so they laughed and said they would go a'wandering and to call them when i detoxed. I went back to bed and by the time i was up and ready to do something they were tired and fit for bed! So they went back to the hostel to relax and i went to the zoo with two of the guys from Nan. In hindsight we left it a bit late to go out (mid afternoon) and didnt get to see everything. The zoo is big and sprawls all over so we wandered around a lot and didnt get to see the pandas which are the star attraction (even if all they do is sleep). However, we did find our way to the games/activities section where we found a few weird things that i wouldnt expect to see in many zoos. We tried out the luge which for those unaware is a thing you sit on and fly down a hill. Generally its a winter sport but these guys had their own take. Basically we got a helmet and some pads then jumped in a pickup which struggled up a pretty steep hill. On the back of the jeep were our cars. These were, essentially, three wheeled vehicles which we sat in and had steering off a mountain bike with two brake levers. You sit in and plummet down a track cordoned off the path up the hill. The track was about 1km long but it was all over in a flash. We went down in convoy, led by a thai guy, and zoomed around a few corners. I even got a bit of drift going round one which the owner congratulated me on. All in all it was a pretty cool experience and got the adrenaline going! We saw a few other activities but were conscious it was getting a tad late and if we wanted to see any animals in this zoo then we should get a move on. So we wandered a bit more, not really knowing where we were going and eventually we were told the place was closing and that we should leave. So we headed back to the city centre and since we were starving we rang the guys and told them to meet us in a mexican restaurant where we had decided to get dinner this evening. We got a decent meal and went back to the hostel to begin the night's festivities. Today was the King's Birthday and apparently nowhere was due to sell alcohol so we had bought some the previous day so we could at least sit in the hostel and drink. Then we realised that all the bars were trying to open and simply hide drinkers from the police so we found a place and i gave the gang a lesson in darts and pool. The pool table was european to my delight and the gang's dismay as i wiped the floor with them all while they complained the pockets and balls were too small :)

The next day some people wanted to go to Doi Suthep. Having been there twice already i was in no rush back and let them off while i went computer shopping. To do this i went to the aptly named computer plaza and tried to explain to each shop what i wanted. They looked at me as if i was mad when i said i wanted a small, light laptop with a dvd drive (apparantly this is hard to find) so i settled for a small, light laptop with an external dvd drive. I got a good deal (HP mini 110 plus extras for around EUR300) and arrange to pick it up tomorrow as i didnt have anywhere to store it safely in the hostel plus they didnt have the colour i wanted and were getting one sent down from another store in a different city. I took off for a walk around the city and heard from the guys they were coming back from Doi Suthep so i met them back at the hostel. It was about this time that the guys from the computer shop called me to tell me they couldnt get the colour i wanted till later in the week but that they had a pink one that i could use till then. I wasnt too thrilled with this but agreed anyway as i figured i might as well have something for the few days while i waited for my one. For the rest of the evening we spent most of it at the Sunday Walking Street which is bloody massive. We got tired before we saw even half of it id say but it was good all the same. I finished my christmas shopping so there will be a parcel going in the post to Roscommon soon. We had a drink back in the hostel and then went with pretty much everyone else from the hostel (including the owners) to a reggae bar. This turned into a deadly night and we all had great craic.

The next day all i did was get some breakfast before saying my heartfelt goodbyes (i'll see them all for New Year in Phi Phi anyway) and went to pick up my pink laptop. They told me to come back on Thursday and they would switch it for a black one to which i consented. I had the day off (another thai holiday) so it wouldnt be too much hassle. Afterwards i went to the bus station and caught the next bus and spent the evening on the net with my cute pink laptop!

P.S. In the first pic there is Markus, myself and Jessie. Jessie's the one eating his knees :)

The King's Award

Ok this is the day of reckoning. After more than two weeks preparing the kids its time for them to perform in front of the judges of OBEC to show how savage our school is. I get to the MEP room at my usual time of 8am to find a hive of activity with students and teachers alike running around like headless chickens. My young Science and Math presenters are all very nervous so I spend the next hour listening to their presentations and trying to calm them down. Around 9am the judges are due to arrive as we are first on their route. But surprise, surprise it is 11 before they arrive (supposedly the projector died for whatever initial presentation they were at in the big hall prior to touring the school). Anyways while we were waiting the kids were growing more and more edgy and nervous so that by the time the judges did arrive I was a bag of nerves as well. Then the moment arrived and I swear some of the kids looked ready to bolt!

After all our worrying it wasn’t so bad. There had been a suggestion that the kids would be asked questions about their projects which is what I and all the other teachers feared as the kids had simply memorized their speeches and had little understanding of what they were talking about. The judges watched a few performances put on beside us including a display of thai boxing, some singing in Chinese and girl from the MEP class telling a story in English. Finally they began to walk among our stalls and stopped to listen to each one. Thankfully for both us teachers and the kids no questions were asked and the judges seemed quite happy with the whole spectacle. I spoke with one of the judges for a bit before they moved on to the next department. The whole thing lasted maybe a half an hour and the relief on the kids faces was evident once it was done. It was lunchtime at this stage so we got a bit to eat before the judges went for theirs.

After stuffing my face I went over to the big hall where the judges were due to lunch as there was going to be some entertainment put on for them. This included thai dancing, the adaptation of snow white and some singing from the MEP class. The kids did ok, working their way through “Que Sera Sera” and “You Raise Me Up” without too much trouble (they had got enough practice so they would want to do ok!). It was all good fun so I think it was ok. Then I was informed that a group from OEG (the company that placed me here) had arrived. I had been told a few days earlier that they would show up and I was curious as to the purpose of the visit as nobody had told me. It turns out they wanted to check how I was doing and look at how the school was treating me as it was new to their program. So they hung around for a while, had a chat and looked at my accommodation. All very relaxed and informal. It was a nice way to finish the day. And that’s basically it…..Two weeks of fretting and it was over in a flash.

From what I heard from the other teachers, the judges were fairly happy with the day as a whole and had little criticism of the MEP in particular which was music to my ears and the ears of my coordinator. I didn’t have to deal with the classroom observation in the end which was a bit of a relief. Next up is a weekend in CM with some friends from orientation in BKK. Promises to be messy…… :)

Mai pen rai

Sometimes it amazes me how little work actually gets done in this country. Since ive been here i dont think ive had a full week of classes. There always seems to be something on or something to prepare for. All of these take priority over class as well which means frequent random cancellations. So far there have been the Sports Days (with a few days off beforehand to prepare), Big Clean Up days, teacher seminars for the thai teachers and now we have a King's award to get ready for. From what i can tell this is pitting our school against another one in Lamphun to see which is better. This doesnt relate in any super prize either as it just seems to be about bragging rights and prestige. The other school is a large school in a large town and we are a small school in a small rural village so we are underdogs here. But everyone is getting behind it so there is a sense of confidence about the place. Anyway from my perspective i have six presentations to prepare, 3 of which are Math and the other 3 are Science. Between myself, Goy and Noon (my co-teachers for Math and Science respectively) we got our kids sorted for their presentations. We got a few ideas together and i typed up their speeches that the kids were going to memorise. They are a stickler for memorising things over here without really understanding it. This is a bit frustrating as it makes teaching them a bit harder as they just take the stuff down off the board and memorise it whereas i want them to understand the material. So I constantly ask them questions which annoys them :)

All of this is going fine until i realised how important this award thing was to the school and also how often the bloody dates change. It started as a Thursday, changed to the Monday before (which sent me into a panic at one point as i had little done at the time) then changed to the week after. We didnt know when on that week till really late so i just aimed for that Monday. I stopped worrying at this point because there was nothing i could do about it and just hoped what i would have done would be enough come the actual day.

So the kids got an idea, such as using a pizza to demonstrate fractions, a script to memorise and they had to create displays out of this. They asked to do that part as they were distinctly unimpressed with my (non-existent) art skills. So off they went and i was thrown around as a jack of all trades helping with the other presentations, an adaptation of Snow White, some songs, help with pronunciation (frustrating), plan and do the odd lesson and at one point go through a verbal reasoning test my coordinator was preparing for. For this last one i was expected to know all the answers just from reading the questions (as a native speaker i clearly have a complete mastery of the language.....) which would have been fine only most of the questions were a bit ambiguous. So i made educated guesses! All in all a pretty busy week even though I did very little teaching. Now over the weekend we are working on rehearsals to drill all of this stuff down the kids throats so they are ready for the day. I'm looking forward to their rendition of Westlife's "You Raise Me Up" which ive been listening to all week (i think i know the words better than the kids at this stage purely from it being endlessly repeated). Oh and there is also the small matter of the judges looking to observe one of my classes in order to evaluate me as a teacher as well.... No biggie.

Finally I would like to say that most of the time I just smile and get on with it when everything seems to get pulled out from under me at times. Its all you can do because getting upset achieves nothing. I also have no sign of a tv getting set up in my room or getting a bicycle. Nothing happens quickly over here. But as we say in Thailand: 'Mai Pen Rai'

Sports Day

I think it is important to mention this event, purely for the craziness of it. On the Thursday and Friday of my 3rd week we had the (poorly named) Sports Day. So this meant that nothing was done in the build up as everyone had preparation to do for it and most things take precedence over academia over here. I missed the Thursday as i was in Lamphun, the provincial town, to get my work permit which was surprisingly straightforward. Anyway Friday comes around and i head down to the football field for 7.30am in the fog which was a bad idea. I still havent adapted to thai time. This basically means that nothing starts on time and so it wasnt for another half hour or so that anything started on this day. First thing i am told is i am a judge of some sort which is news to me. So i get dragged to the table and sat down. Then a parade comes through the gate of the school and goes in front of our little table. This is the opening ceremony of te sports day which is odd as this is the second day. While this is happening i am told im supposed to be judging a description of each part of the parade in english. this is difficult as only half of the descriptions are in english and those i cant hear over the music. I should also point out at this stage that the school is split into colours or teams for the day and all this was decided a while back. the teams then compete against each other for the day and prepare everything without teacher help. I also have a colour but i dont have to compete (thank god) as the teachers are exempt. Im green, which im pleased about (being irish obviously).

Anyway back to the parade. This is a menagerie of colour with each group having a unique theme. If you look at the pictures on facebook you will see one of them was called "wizardland" which presumably has something to do with thai kids fascination with all things world of warcraft et al. I also enjoyed the marching band's rendition of 'smoke on the water'! So the kids have designed all this themselves which is pretty impressive but it gets better. Next up is the dancing. Firstly the younger kids perform their aerobic routine to some music and they finish on the ground in an impression of the olympic rings. Pretty good but then the primary school steps up and do their aerobic routine. All i could think of was how the teachers managed to get the kids to do any kind of choreography at such a young age. This bizzarelly finishes with Ronan Keating blaring out of the soundsystem (it was a medley of songs) to my complete surprise and mild disgust. Next each of the colours send out their dance troupe who are basically cheerleaders for the day. The green group demanded i get in a picture with them so i sat through a series of pictures with a gang of teenage girls all dressed up (hence why i am not smiling in my own one). Which was obviously a great challenge for me ;) Anyway the teams all put on good shows with a small bit of thai dancing in some but mostly they did their own thing. All by themselves i think.

Once the dancing is over i get told that i have to judge the shelters and cheering. I had no idea how to do this so i went and got lunch then wandered around near the shelters with the marking sheet and pen looking very obviously like a judge. The kids picked up on this and basically a heap of them from each group got up and with a few drums and bongos basically went nuts on the grass in front of their shelters. All kinds of dancing and jumping around were part of the mayhem though one group had choreographed routines which was cool. So i gave marks for the more enthususiastic gangs and the crazy looking shelters and that was my judging over for the day.

Most of the sports on this day was races so that got a bit old after an hour or so. I found out that all the others had been held the previous day which i was a bit unhappy about. I'd been looking forward to watching the takraw and badminton. The day kid of petered out bar the odd call for me to present prizes to race winners...." Teacher alan will present the next prize....Teacher alan....where is teacher alan?" This was followed by me bemusedly showing up wondering why someone was bellowing my name into a mike and being handed some certificates to hand out to kids on a podium. Oh and get my pic taken.....again.

The next day i got a bus to chiang mai again and spent the night getting drunk with Pez and Cindy as we all needed to unwind. Oh and i saw some more waterfalls.....

Teaching in thailand

I have now been teaching here in Li for 3 weeks and with that wealth of experience behind me i will try and give a taste of what i have found teaching to be like over here. To recap I am teaching English, Math and Science. The English is only for 5 hours a week and that is to Matayom 4 (fourth year of secondary school) and the other 9 hours is spent equally between Math and Science to Matayom 1 (first years). The M1 kids have as good if not better English than some of the M4 kids but i suppose they need to be good to get into the MEP. No point being there if you dont understand english! I guess im pretty lucky in that most of my students understand most of what i say some of the time.

Let's start with the English as that was the main thing that brought me over here. I thought that was all i would be teaching but in fact its more the other way around. M4 is broken up into different levels based on their academic ability. I have the top 4 classes, the very best one i have twice a week and the other 3 only once. Its very hard to get any kind of link between classes when you only have them once a week and even that isnt assured thanks to all the random days off or half days or what have you. I do have a basic outline of what im to teach M4 but after that its up to me. I began my first class by introducing myself and where i am from. They havent a clue where ireland is so this took longer than expected as i attempted to draw a map of europe on the board. I followed this up with a few sentences on the board with blanks in them such as "My favourite football team is....." and "In my free time i like to......" This gave me a chance to gauge their level of english and i finished with a game of Hangman (thai kids love hangman). I used this in each M4 class so that was the first week taken care of there! Basically what i found out is there a few enthusiastic kids and a lot of very quiet kids. Once i went in with a lesson plan and some whiteboard markers i felt ok and once i got into a flow i was fine (your lesson plan is your armour and your markers are your weapons!). If i go into class unprepared it all turns to mush so to have any hope of getting anything done i need a small bit of structure. Anyway i found English ok for the first few classes as i got my bearings and got a feel for each class to see what i could teach them and what was too easy/hard. They get a bit rowdier once they get used to you but i can still keep them under a bit of control by raising my voice calmly by increments. I havent yet gotten to full volume i dont think so thats a positive. It is very challenging to teach these kids (especially on a topic like the environment) when they have very little english. I need to have some kind of game or activity to hold their attention or they get bored and even then its hard to keep coming up with games all the time. The biggest problem i face is laziness because thai students cannot fail. I mean there is no mechanism in the thai education system for a kid to fail, there is only a low pass upwards. Therefore why should they try? I mean they will pass anyway so there is no incentive to work. This is just in class so homework is a complete waste of time. This is incredibly frustrating but its something i have to deal with.

Math and Science are different. For a start i have a book for each (the kids also have this book) and i have a fairly straightforward curriculum. This makes lesson planning a sight easier as i just follow the book and put my own twist on it. Also the kids know the stuff already having done it through thai and i am just giving them the english version. These classes are easy enough though i have the same thing with the games and activities. Essentially thai teachers lecture and the kids just memorise everything without understanding it. Im supposed to be the opposite and get them to understanding stuff rather than memorising it. I also have co-teachers for Math and Science, Goy for Math and Noon for Science (these are there nicknames as there regular names are tricky to pronounce). They are a big help both in preparing lessons and in controlling the class. They are Thai Math and Science teachers with good English and guide me as to what the kids can manage and what is difficult for them. Obviously the kids would never tell me this themselves as they are too shy. So i have a translator there if the kids are having particular trouble, often there is a thai translation at the end of each lesson. Between us we try and get the kids to learn something. I spend most of the class trying to explain things and trying to engage the kids in the material which i eventually get through sheer persistence (sometimes). Most of the time they look at me, then at the co-teacher for help and eventually the message gets across!

So for someone who hadnt taught a day in their life im probably not doing too bad, i think. Some days are better than others which is a combination of the material and my approach maybe working. If things dont work in one class then i just take a different approach in the next class. All in all its a pretty cushy number though. I have 14 hours of class a week and even then if you add a generous 1 hour prep for each class on top of that im still under 30 hours a week. I have to be in work from 8 till 4 every day so that adds up to a lot of free time!

Im sure i'll expand on this in a later entry but i wanted to give an insight into what it is like to teach over here from my perspective. Its not all pretty waterfalls and drinking but is still fun, or in thai: Sanook Sanook!

Thailand is:

• putting krab or ka at the end of every sentence. Example Sawat dee krab is hello for a guy, girls use ka.
• HOT! Choose between hot and wet or hot and dry.....
• smiles everywhere. Its just the way they are over here, always smiling.
• the wai. Clasp your hands in prayer at your chest, below your chin or to your forehead and bow. The higher the wai the more respect you pay to the person you are greeting.
• food everywhere. Anything and everything on sale. From snacks to dinner you can get whatever you want, pretty much whenever you want.
• meat on sticks. Its a game to guess what the meat is!
• Rice or noodles with every meal. Usually rice though. Oh and rice based desserts too.
• Everything in a plastic bag - rice, curry, cola all served in a plastic bag as a takeaway. If its a drink you do get a straw.
• Street vendors: Often difficult to tell what they are selling, especially the guys who cook it there and then as all you can see are a jumble of ingredients. "Can i have one of whatever it is you sell?" Response is blank stare.....
• eating at the side of the road. Some vendors will have plastic tables and chairs and you can eat the food hot off the pan.
• dinner for 20 or 30 baht. That's under a euro.
• rarely wearing shoes indoors. Its impolite
• never getting angry. Its impolite and you will lose face.
• bottled water unless you want some exotic disease of the tap water.
• different toilets. Faced with a hole in the ground, no paper and a tap and bowl to one side what would you do?
• fans and AC indoors at all times. See HOT!
• not using the letters L, S, X, OR V. There are no plurals in thai, their l's sound like r's and vise versa and their v's sound like w's. X is just alien to them.
• stressing all of the above letters now that you hear them not being used.
• mosquito repellent. Your new aftershave for night time.
• tuk-tuk - a 3 wheel bike that can seat anything from 1 passenger to x passengers depending on how inventive the driver is feeling. If you get one in Bangkok try not to breathe in.....
• songthaew - a cheap taxi,its basically a covered pick up truck with two benches on the bed.
• pick up trucks. If you dont have a motorcycle then you buy one of these. Why buy a 5 seater car when you can fit at least 10 people and a million bananas on the back of this?
• motorcycle. If you cant afford a pick up you get one of these. helmet optional.
• weaving all over the road while driving. They do indicate though, most of the time.
• spicy - you dont know the meaning of the word till you try some of this stuff. dodge the chillies.
• chillies - on everything and i mean everything.
• hello teacher/ good morning teacher at all times of day followed by giggling.
• eggs all over the place in food especially but can be a dessert also.
• maybe - do we have class today? / will the students show up today? / will they do anything if they do show up?
• mai pen rai - translates roughly as "Ah well....." Applies daily
• blank faces. the regular response to any question in english.
• cheap - pretty much everything is cheap. See dinner for under a euro!
• mosquitos are everywhere after dark and you will get bitten if you arent wearing repellent.
• colours, bright colours everywhere. Pink is the king's colour.
• monarchy. just dont say anything and you may avoid being arrested.
• crap music and lots of it.
• crap tv and lots of it (not that ive seen too much, just from watchign in other people's places).
• random days off or half days. They seem to decide on the spot sometimes.
• not showing up to things on time. Its not unusual to wait for at least a half hour plus. Can range from small to big events as well. See mai pen rai.....
• no dairy - hard to get milk, very hard to get butter and i havent seen cheese yet.
• thai massage - getting brutalised by someone who uses mostley their bony forearms and hands. But still pretty relaxing.
• beer - not great and in the greater scheme of things not all that cheap either. 660ml bottle will usually go for about 100 baht in a bar.
• whiskey - ok and a good kick.
• fruit - often weird. Example: their bananas are small and chewy....
• Buddhist temples or wats all over the place.
• thai language is unique. it has its very own alphabet and there are five tones. This means that while you think you may be asking to buy something you could be insulting that person's mother or something...
• ultimately crazy but good fun!!

I'm sure i will find more stuff to add as the months go on so expect another version! Also i didnt put this in any particular order, just as it came to me so dont try reading too much into the layout.

Prison massage and Doi Suthep

One of the guys (Brian) put a message on facebook saying he was going to be in Chiang Mai if anyone cared to join him. This was music to my ears as i was bored stiff in my little town so for the second weekend in a row i went to Chiang Mai. This time i was going to attempt it on my own, emboldened from having been there with someone who knew what to do. Unfortunately i found out that there is no transport after 4pm to CM so that ruled out going Friday evening. This offered the thrilling prospect of getting up for the bus on Saturday morning for either 6, 7, 8, or 9am. Great...... So i manage this (barely) and step outside of my room into a cool blanket of fog. As i walk towards the main st to hail down the passing bus, several people walk by me. We all looked at each other the other person was crazy. This is mainly because im in a Tshirt and shorts and they are all wrapped up as if its below zero! The fog was already starting to burn off even at 7am so i was damned if i was goin to wrap up for the sake of a half hour. And lo and behold within an hour i was sweating away on the bus on my way to CM! Thai people have no tolerance for cold as they so rarely experience it so i think the 'cold' season is going to be a disappointment to me. I may at some point need a jumper....maybe.... and all the thai people will be wearing layers.

Anyway by the time i reach CM its a bloody scorcher. I book into a hostel and meet up with Brian and Nancy. They announce we are going for a thai massage in a women's prison. Now i had been looking forward to my first thai massage but i hadnt thought it would be in a prison. I went along anyway and was pleasantly surprised. We arrived in and asked for a full thai massage. We were then handed a set of 'one size fits all' trouosers and shirt and told to change. we store our gear in lockers provided and head to the massage room. We are asked to lie down on a mattress on the ground ( with a cup of green tea to relax us) and the massage begins. Now for those of you oblivious to what a thai massage entails (as i was going in) it is basically all the muscles in your legs, arms, neck, shoulders and back getting stretched and massaged by your masseuse who uses her hands, forearms, elbows and knees. you get manipulated into all sorts of weird shapes and stretches and you get very close to your masseuse in an entirely non sexual way. When she is using her elbow to cut the blood flow from the main artery in your leg (basically where your groin meets your upper leg) then you see there is nothing sexual involved! They stop the blood flow before working on your limbs which i asume makes the massage easier or better. feels weird though. Anyway i'll leave some of the rest as a surprise ( It certainly was to me) but suffice to say we were all happy with our decision afterwards. We were all alongside each other and mine was the first to start so the other two got a sneak preview of each part before it happened to them. We all had a good laugh though. we got some lunch afterwards and headed for Dio Suthep!

Doi Suthep is a mountain next to CM and is a popular tourist attraction. We got a songthaew to the top and visited the wat there. To do this you must climb the stair of 300 steps. We had a wander around and looked at the various Buddha statues and temples but the best bit is the view. You can see right down over CM and it was a truly impressive sight. A cloudless day meant it was untarnished as well. After this we tried to figure out what to do next. An enterprising songthaew driver spotted our indecision and approached us with a map. We decided to head to a waterfall before returning to the city. This a beautiful sight and a good way to wind the day down. We began climbing the various levels of it (there are 8 and we saw 3) before we got tired and returned to our waiting songthaew. we were disappointed we didnt have swimming gear as it looked like a nice cold shower!

After returning to CM and freshening up we met Cindy for dinner. The menu was a great source of entertainment as their spelling and phrasing was dodgy at best. On a placard outside it stated “It Foods, Taste Great!!”. No idea what they were looking to try with this statement but we thought it was hilarious. Anyway the food was good and the staff were friendly so all in all was a nice meal. After this we made our way to the “walking street’ or night bazaar. This is a closed off road where you can buy whatever you want. It was at least a mile long and we spent a lot of time there (along with a bit of money). I spent the most on a few presents and bits and pieces for myself and still spent less than 1000 baht or 20 euros. So while it felt like a lot at the time it really wasn’t. That’s the thing about Thailand, I’m getting used to the money and spending large amounts of it feels strange but when I convert it back it really isn’t that much. Anyway after a pleasant evenings shopping we head back to our hostels to offload our gear and meet up with Pez for some drinks. He introduces us to a workmate of his and pretty soon we are whisked away to Mandalay nightclub. In here we get some drinks and by drinks I mean a bottle of whiskey and some mixers. After the second bottle my memory gets a little hazy although I do remember being in the bathroom at one point and there was attendants there to massage your shoulders… The next day I bus it back to Li for another week’s work…

End of Week One

So at this point ive been a week here in Wiangjedee Wittaya school in Li. I had about 16 hours of classes but this is open to change i believe. I am here primarily to teach Math and Science to the Mini English Program(MEP) which is a class of about 31 kids at Matayom 1 level. This is the first year of Secondary school for Thai kids. I have English with them as well but i think my coordinator wants to take over this, its not really clear. MEP students have paid extra to be taught subjects through English such as Math and Science. I have English with Matayom 4 for a few hours also but i have 4 different classes and only have the strongest class for 2 periods a week while the other 3 i have only once a week. All in all its been an ok week. Once ive done my preparation the teaching aspect is ok and my coordinator and co-teachers seem happy with my approach. Basically i am in work from 8am till 4pm each day but some days i only have one or two periods. These days drag as there is so little to do besides sit on the computer surfing the net.

Teaching Math and Science through English is not the struggle i thought it would be. With there being a set curriculum i feel pretty happy starting each class off as i have a set idea of what i want to do. English can be a bit more vague as there isnt anything clear to teach. SO far my only complaint is the lack of things to do in the evenings. With nothing to do i usually chill in my rooms after work before going looking for dinner in the village. This usually entails walking to the market and trying to pick out something that is not too spicy. A game of spot the chillies! This wil often set me back 30 baht (less than a euro) for my entire meal. So that is the main positive about this country! After wards i have not much else to do except maybe buy a few bits and pieces in the shop like snacks and fruit at the market. I then either hit an internet cafe or head home and read and listen to music. i picked up a few second hand books in Chiang Mai last weekend so if i keep going back i should be able to keep a steady supply going.

Im usually in bed for around 9.30 or so. I have great intentions to start jogging or something after school but the problem with this is it gets dark around 6 so once i lie down i find it difficult to get up before it gets dark. Also most of the stalls and shops in the town close around 7 so i havent really seen the town of Li in full daylight yet with everything open. Hopefully i will be getting a tv soon and some english channels so i can use it in the evenings. I think i can get a sports channel and a movies channel so that should help me wile away the evenings. heading back to Chiang Mai at the weekend cos im so bored here....

A typical day in Li

6am: Security open the gate beside my house with a loud screech and a bang. Roll over.

7am: Alarm goes off, get up hit snooze, fall back to sleep.

7.10: Alarm goes off. Turn off and get up. Turn on kettle thing (electric pot jar) and electric shower. Grab towel and have shower.

7.20: Slightly more awake after shower, make coffee, eat something.

7.25: School blares crap music out of tannoy. This continues till 8am.

7.55: Leave house and head for work. Kids rush to assembly where they sing the national anthem and raise the Thai flag, some announcements also made. All in thai so i stop going after a week.

8am: Sign in and head for MEP room. Hop on the net and check emails.

8.30: First period starts. I only have this one on fridays so i usually stay on the internet or plan a lesson.

9.20-11: Maybe have class, try to teach Math/English/Science to Thai kids who giggle a lot. Ask a question and get blank looks in response.

11am: Lunch time. Head down to canteen and get a meal for about 15 baht. Lots of "hello teacher" and "good morning teacher" on the way there and back. Oh and lots of giggling of course.

11.50-4pm: Same as before lunch. Maybe have class, usually plan lessons when not teaching. Spend a lot of time on the internet. Occasionally dragged in front of a class to speak. I stay in the MEP room all day as that is where the internet is. Classes run all day in there so sometimes i get called to participate in the class.

4pm: Hometime! Sign out at front desk. "good morning teacher" + giggles.

4.05: Arrive home and flake out on bed. Read and relax, shower and change.

6pm: Go in search of dinner at the market or the few vendors around the corner from the school.

6.30: After dinner just wander around for a bit, maybe hit the internet cafe (in which all the kids play WoW style games).

8pm: Arrive back home and listen to music for a bit while reading.

9.30: Shower and bed time!

So far this is my routine but hopefully i will get a tv soon so less wandering around in the evenings and more sitting around watching crap tv!

Loy Kathrong in Chiang Mai

Its Friday and the end of a camp the MEP kids were doing. I spend the working day helping them to make presentations along with some of the other teachers. This gets them more used to my presence and voice and gradually become less scared of me (because im such a threatening figure). After all this is done and i have changed out of my workclothes i meet up with Reya and Goy who are bringing me to Chiang Mai for the weekend. First of all though we are staying in Goy's parents house for the night before heading on to CM in the morning. Its roughly halfway between Li and CM and i forget the name. Now her parents dont have great english but the dad is delighted to meet me and is constantly practising the few bits of english he has. They welcome me and show me around their home. Its quite a humble little place except for the 32" flat screen tv and the giant pickup truck. Oh and the snooker table.... They seem pretty content anyway.

The highlight of the stay for me is the crazy cat they have, called Suthee (or something to that effect). This cat had no fear and would attack anything that moved or was stationary so...anything. I try to pet him and he chews on my hand, i walk around and he attacks my feet. All in all good clean fun as he doesnt really have sharp teeth or claws so it wasnt sore. So while everyone else is babbling away in thai and doing their own thing im tormenting the cat. After a while we go outside and let some lanterns off in the garden. This is some kind of ritual to ward off spirits and you are supposed to make a wish as you release it. You light the candle at the bottom of the bag and wait till the lantern fills with hot air, then release and it floats away. Ive had a few discussions about what happens when the candle goes out but we dont know.

After this we go for some food but along the way we stop to look at the local parade. This consists of several small villages together parading through them all with their kathrongs that are going to be in a competition. Each village makes a special large one and there is a competition for the best. After watching this we get some food and then venture down to the fair where the parade ended. We sit down and watch a few things on the stage before letting off a lantern with the rest of the crowd. This was really pretty watching all the lanterns going up together. Soon after this we head home and i sleep like a log, its been a long week.

Up for 7am with the two girls we head off for Chiang Mai. The reason we are up so early is because Goy is working so myslef and Reya have the day to ourselves. I arrange to meet the two gang off the programme who i met in Bangkok and who are working in CM later in the day but first we head off to the guesthouse and nap for an hour. Reya is Filipino and has been working in Li for 3 years and knows CM pretty well so she leads us to a cheap (180 baht a night) but nice hostel. She shows me the bookstores where i stock up on some reading materials (english naturally). I get a call from Pez to say he has something to do so cant meet us till the evening so now we have a few hours free to do whatever. Reya is quite laidback so not really forthcoming with exciting ideas and i know nothing about what is here so we are at a bit of a loss really. Then i decide i want to get speakers for my creative so i can listen to music in my room and she brings me to a massive shopping centre (or mall for the americans) and i pick up a cool set for less than 1000 baht. We wander around here for the day and get tired so as the afternoon drags on we decide to go back to the hostel and relax for a bit before we meet Pez and Cindy later for food and drinks.

We meet Pez for dinner a while later and get Italian as i was craving western food. Just as we are finishing we get a call from Cindy who meets us near the Tha Pae gate (where we are and a lot of western style shops, hostels and restaurants are located). Now we go to a rooftop bar which is a bizarre little place. Situated looking down on the square beside the gate it is a hippy looking joint with no seats and tiny tables. The idea is that you sit on cushions on the floor at your tables. We have a few relaxing Leos here and head back down to the square to let off a lantern. Pez and Cindy hadnt done this yet so were excited to try it. Afterwards we head for the Ping river and float a few Kathrongs which is the main part of the festival. All of this, by the way, is with the sound of fireworks being let off left, right and centre around us. They love them over here and they are constantly being let off. Down by the river was the worst as we had people right beside us letting off screaming things. We head back to the gate slightly deafened for a nightcap before going our separate ways.

The next day i wander around a bit again before catching a 3 hour bus ride back to Li. Overall CM is a lovely city with a nice mix of Thai and Western culture without being as crazy as BKK. It helps that it is much smaller of course. There is plenty to do and see as i learn when wandering around and i think i will be back soon to do more of the touristy things but for now it was nice to have a relaxing weekend!

First day at work

I wake up having slept like a log and have a shower. A little while later Adjarn Chaweewan arrives to greet me. She is my coordinator here in Li. So she and the teachers i met last night (whose names i have forgotten) bring me to the Mini English Program (MEP) room that is to be my workplace for the next 5 months. Inside is the MEP class of 31 students who i will have for the majority of classes. They are Matayom 1 level which is the first grade of secondary school here so they are quite young. Basically their parents paid extra for them to get into this program so already i feel under pressure to do a good job. Anyway im told to get up in front of the class and introduce myself. No problem right? Well I assumed this would be a few minutes job but boy was i wrong. I got left up there for a half hour while we waited for the monk to come along and take over class for the day. It was tricky to think of stuff to say just off the bat but somehow i managed it. I took inspiration from various things dotted around the room. The local monk was teaching the kids meditation for the day once i was finished.

After this i sit outside the classroom and greet various members of staff that drop by having been tipped off about my arrival. I also talk with my coordinator about what my schedule is like and what im expected to do. by the end of the day im pretty wrecked from the heat of the day and from repeating the same spiel to all and sundry. I head back to the house and arrange to meet the other english teachers for food later. As for the accomodation, it is ok as you can see from the pics on my previous post. Its pretty spartan but i wasnt expecting hotel style furnishings so i'll manage. The important things are the mosquito mesh on all entrances into the room and the fan to cool me down in this sweltering heat. I live in a terrace with some of the other teachers who have the same rooms i do so im not isolated on my own or anything.

We head out for dinner to a place where you have a buffet of meat and veg and then on your table you get a big dish thing where you cook it all. You can turn it into a soup and fry all on the same contraption. We have a decent meal and i get to know some of my fellow teachers who all get to practice their english on me. Afterwards we play with some fireworks that they have and all have a good laugh ( they love their fireworks over here). By this time im exhausted so i go back to my room and pass out.

Arriving in Li

So after our 3 hour bus ride from Kanchanburi to Bangkok we arrive to our 1st hotel where all our coordinators are waiting for us. This is a surprise to all involved as we thought that we would have some time to freshen up. Most people had to grab luggage and got bundled into vans headed to their respective destinations. I was one of the slightly luckier ones i guess as i went with two other girls (Vanessa and Nancy) to a hotel in Bangkok with their coordinator and 6 other teachers from their school. On the way we stopped at a restaurant for dinner and had a traditional Northern Thai meal. We got to know each other a little better as all the teachers were brimming with questions for the farangs. After this we went to the hotel they had picked out and did a little shopping on the streets of Bangkok. I needed to get some clothes for work as i hadnt enough with me. Now i mentioned earlier that Bangkok is an assault on the senses but this night it took its toll. A combination of spicy food, exhaustion, dehydration and the smell of Bangkok led to me throwing my dinner back up. Luckily i had most of my shopping done by this point so we headed back to the hotel where i had a shower and jumped into bed after gulping down as much water as i could. Cue a night of no sleep, lots of vomiting in the toilet and general discomfort.

The next day we rise at 6am to leave around 8 for Bang Saen beach. I attempted to eat some breakfast but couldnt stomach thai food just yet. Bread and water kept it simple. Then we hop in to the van after a lot of "poor Alan" and head for the beach. Im comple

tely exhausted of course as i didnt sleep a wink and manage to pass out in the van for a bit. We arrive at a big deserted beach which doesnt fit the white sand and clear seas image of beaches in thailand. This is where everyone from Bangkok goes at the weekend so when we were there during the week and at 9 in the morning there was nobody around. We hop back in the van and begin our long journey north to Li and Bang Hong. Now ive taken a few long journeys in my time but never have i had so many pit stops along the way. We began stopping about every hour or so for bathroom breaks which basically meant i couldnt get any sleep which is what i needed. We stopped for food at one point where i managed to eat some fried chicken and ric

e and i also got some motilium. Also on the way the teachers were buying bags of stuff and trying to get me to sample it which i tried my best to politely decline. The girls however were not so lucky as to have an excuse like mine. They had to sample everything which was hard for Vanessa as they couldnt get their head around the idea of a vegetarian. "Only sometime?"

All of this meant i arrived in Li at about 8pm. Now i was exhausted getting up at 6 so you can

imagine what i was like by this stage. I had dinner with the teachers from Bang Hong which i also kept down (progress!) before they dropped me at my accommodation on the school grounds. So i

meet some of my fellow teachers at Vianchedi

Wattaya school. They showed me my place which consists of my bedroom/main room, bathroom and 'kitchen'. I also got to use their internet for a short time before i faded. Early to bed and in the morning i was to meet my coordinator for the

first time along with more staff and some of the kids.....

The work starts here!

P.S. These are pics of my accommodation in Li. Bedroom, Kitchen and Bathroom. I have an electric shower in the bathroom but the whole room is my cubicle, its not separate like we would have in Ireland. Also note the toilet, anything missing from this picture?

Elephants!!

Ok i have now been over a week in Thailand after orientation in Bangkok. I'll begin with the last two days of orientation which consisted of a trip to Kanchanburi and a visit to the river Kwai. We head on buses in the afternoon after our last working day of orientation and stop on the way at a restaraunt called 'Prawn Volcano' for dinner. This was a bit weird as they brought out a plate of giant prawns or something then put a plastic model of a volcano over it. The proceeded to pour what looked like white spirits over it and set it on fire.... Not sure what was going on but was fun to watch. Anyway after a hearty meal of seafood and rice we set off for our hotel. The whole bus journey was 3 hours and dinner was about halfway along. Its dark when we arrive and we are all a bit tired so we grab our bags and head for our rooms. On the way a few of us agree to look for the bar and get a nightcap before bed. So we go looking for the bar and find out its closed but a few waitresses show up and can offer us some overpriced beer. We agree and sit down for a bit with our beverages. After a while we hear splashing and laughing so some of us go to inspect. Now not all of us were at the 'bar' so we were kind of curious as to where everyone else was. We find them nightswimming at the pool! Well im feeling pretty sweaty and need a clean so i head back to my room grab my trunks and head back down for a dip. This proved refreshing and we stayed there till they kicked us out at midnight.

The next day we get up early to go elephant trekking and bamboo rafting! We hop back on our buses and a short trip later arrive at the main camp. We see our first elephants here and are treated to a little show.

Now we get split into two groups and i join the group going rafting first. We are given lifejackets and plastic bags in case our valuables get wet. Then we hop onto our rafts (four to a raft) and float calmly down the river for a while with our guide who steers it. Some of the girls even get a go at the paddle. This was really relaxing once i got over the fact that if i fell in i was going to float a long way down the river before i managed to swim to the shore.

After the rafting we got on some pickups and raced back to the elephant base. This was a bit scary as they sped along without a thought for their passengers so if you didnt hold on it was your own fault if you fell off! We got back and switched with the other group and we both assured each other the activity we had done was great. I got onto the seat on the back of the elephant with Andrew and we trundled off. The mahout looked bored but i suppose i would too if i was trekking the same route several times a day. The elephant's gait was rhythmically soothing and quite enjoyable. I was a little worried when we got to the water where the elephant wades for a bit and the mahout instructed me to take his place on the neck of the animal and he w

ould take pictures. Now i was trying to climb off the seat onto the neck while the elephant was standing in water so if i fell there would be a big splash. I survived though and we moved off again. It wasnt the most comfortable on his neck as i had to move with his shoulders or break my hip but i got some nice pics as the mahout got a bit triggy happy with my camera. After our adventures we got some lunch and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon.

We had the afternoon free and since it was a hot day we all wanted to hit the pool. There being a large group of americans they soon turned this into a mini 'Spring Break' with everyone drinking and playing games. It was a good laugh as the frisbees came out watching a few of the lads taking running jumps to catch a frisbee as it passed over the water. In the evening we went to see the Bridge over the River Kwai which is a railway bridge (still in use as we found out when we were on it) which has not been adapted for pedestrians in any way shape or form. if you slip you will land in the river and that may be the last of you. There were platforms where we could stop along the way over the bridge to take pictures and look at the view. After a while when we were walking back we were bathed in a light from behind us, then we heard a loud honk and quickly vacated the bridge as a train came rumbling by! After all this we went and had a meal and went back to the hotel again for our last night together as a group.

This obviously meant that we had to get ridiculously drunk together, i mean how else would we celebrate this event? So a drunken night of beer, drinking games, dancing at the (now open) bar and some more nightswimming was had by all. This was paid for the next day when we got on the bus back to Bangkok especially for those people who had to travel further long distances with their coordinators that evening. My next entry will focus on my quazy journey to Li via a road trip.......

P.S. Dont be afraid to leave comments, more info on this, less on that etc. I will also get around to a blog on thai culture and maybe a little language and go into how different it is from home. And believe me you cant take anything for granted over here!

Irish Guy!

After a few days in Thailand i am starting to get the hang of living in this strange country. Im picking up words here and there and can get by at buying food and greeting people kind of. Not much but if you heard the language and saw the script they use then you might give me some credit. I've now had a few days of orientation and im starting to get a little more confident about teaching. The classes we are getting to train us are fantastic and have given us all a confidence boost in our own ways. We have also had classes in thai language and culture so we understand a little bit better the ways and customs of these people. As far as tourism is concerned we were brought to the Grand Palace the other day which is pretty impressive. At the end of orientation we will be going on a 2 day trip to Kanchanburi where we will see the famous bridge over the river Kwai. While there we will get to go elephant trekking and bamboo rafting so we are all looking forward to that.

I am a little nervous about the town im going to as i havent met my coordinator yet and i dont know anything about the place. Everyone else had their coordinator arrive in Bangkok to meet them bar a small few so its a tad disappointing but something to ignore and just get on with. I had questions i wanted to ask and having spoken to a few people after they met theirs it would have been nice to get some answers. All i know is i am going to be the only farang (westerner) in the town and there are only 2 in the province i think. These being the two girls from the programme staying in a town called Lamphun. I might also be teaching Maths and Science as well as Englsih which sounds a bit weird. I dont know what level i have to teach either so all in all im being thrown in at the deep end a little i feel. The coordinator from the school in Lamphun is going to bring me along with the other teachers in her school on a little road trip on route to the town of Li. She plans to show us Bang Saen beach as well as Ayyutayah and Chiang Mai. It is a nice if a little strange offer as i dont know the woman but that's Thailand for you!

On the teaching programme there are 91 of us which is 4 times the size of the last group so everything a bit messy. Of that 91 there are 6 fo us not from the US. 3 irish including myself, 2 english and one canadian. Its all a bit crazy but we all get along and have had a fun few nights here in Bangkok so far. Im fast becoming known as "the irish guy". With my bright red hair i stand out in a crowd of white people so imagine what its like in a crowd of Thais! Anyway its strange to think that in a few days time we will all be going our separate ways across the country and might not see each other again. So we are all making the most of the week we have.

The weather here is one of the other major talking points. I mentioned before about the humidity but we are getting a fair bit of rain as well as we are at the end of the rainy season. This means that a random thunderstorm might suddenly blow in and blow out again in the space of an hour or two. And when it rains here it absolutely hammers down. Last night i was sitting in a shelterd beer garden looking out at at a crazy storm, watching the lightning flash across the sky. On that note beer is relatively cheap over here, you can usually get a 660ml bottle for under 100 baht in a bar which is about two euros. Obviously in shops its cheaper again. I havent gone too crazy yet though as i've been getting tired quite easily due to a mixture of long days and the heat. Hopefully in Li it will be less humid and more bearable but i'll also be working there so might not be a good idea to go out and get smashed during the week.....

First day in Bangkok

This is about my first full day in bangkok which was a bit interesting so im going to include it here. It starts with me getting out of bed relatively early for breakfast. I head downstairs to the restaraunt for a buffet breakfast which features everything from cereal to pork soup with rice. They serve rice with every meal here which is a tad odd and a little bit tiresome. Anyway i sit donw near some farangs who (surprise, surprise!) are teachers on my programme. We get talking about where we are all from, we are all a bit relieved to meet some others off the programme. Pretty soon there is a about a dozen of us sitting together and chatting. At this point i meet Calan who has also lost his luggage. We arrange to head into the city centre to do a spot of shopping as we dont know when our bags are going to show up and i dont have too many clothes with me in my small bag. So we head off to ring our respective baggage people and i get the good news that my bag is on route and it should arrive at the hotel that evening. Calan's is still lost in the system. Buoyed by this i head into the city anyway for a look. So myself, Calan and Mark, his roommate, all get a taxi into Siam Square where we are told there is a shopping centre (or mall) and we can get a few bits and pieces. We land at this place only to find that this mall is designer stuff and pretty expensive, im talking irish or american prices. So we ditch that and go for a walk, and this is where the fun starts.
While walking the street we are approached by a man wearing a shirt bearing the logo "tourist police". A little bit dubious we stand there and listen to this guy tell us all the wonderful things to do and see in bangkok. He shows us on a map some places to pick up clothes and sunglasses and shows us a place to get a boat ride on the river. We thank him and hop in the proferred tuk tuk in the direction of a 'sunglasses factory'. We arrive at a shifty looking shop down some alley. We are then brought inside, up the stairs and into the back room where the guy lifts a section of the wall and guides us into another back room. Now inside here is an array of items from handbags to watches and sunglasses as well. We three look at each other having realised fro definite now that we were being scammed and that the stuff in this room was most likely stolen and our 'tourist policeman' was obviously getting a cut of this transaction. Anyway Calan and i pick out some sunglasses as we needed them anyway and get a steepish price. Not quite designer shop price but by no means market stall price. We leave the smiling staff and get into our tuk tuk which has waited for us and head on to the next stage, the boat ride. Having copped what was going on we back out from the boat ride and make our escape once we arrive assuring the guys we will return the next day. On our way back towards a main road (we were down another alley) we spot a little restaraunt and decide to get some lunch. This place turns out to be delicious and we even get iced towels to cool us down which is a welcome relief in the searing heat. Afterwards we catch a taxi and head back to the hotel for some R&R. On the way we drive through a big storm which would have made our little boat ride fairly uncomfortable had we taken it. We arrange to meet up later to get some food off the street vendors near our hotel and then get some beers all of which we do without problems. We bump into a few more teachers and begin to realise how big this program is before heading for an early night before our first day of orientation in the morning. So my first full day in Bangkok and i get scammed just like every other tourist.... Oh well at least i got some sunglasses out of it!

P.S. My Irish phone is not working over here so dont bother using my number. If you wish to get in touch my thai number is +66852171920.