The first week of teaching was...rather hectic. It was a lot of adjusting, getting used to the way the school is run, getting used to the students and getting used to the teachers. Monday, the 21st, was really overwhelming. I got to school and then I was meeting teachers left and right, none of whom were my co-teachers, but half of them so conveniently happened to be Neil or Jacob's co-teachers. (Neil and Jacob are two Americans teaching at my school as well.) And half is a bit of an exaggeration, that was just the way it felt at the time.
So, the first day, we met teachers, got our schedules and taught. I had no co-teachers that day, mostly because they were busy doing other first day things, but it was still a bit of a harrowing experience to go in there, still unsure of how exactly the school worked and to be all alone. I ended up scrapping most of my lesson plan that day, when trying to let the students talk in English simply degraded into talking in Thai. Which they do anyways. I went with a super simple lesson plan, just self introductions and a game, it was a pretty boring idea, but it worked and was easy so I stuck with it for my first week.
Most of the classrooms don't have air conditioning. The ones that do are the gifted classes...basically the smartest kids. There are about 50 kids in each of my M5 classes, and in my M2 there are about 55. It's insane...I don't really know how they expect to learn with such large classes, but you've gotta try. I guess I'm not very good at discipline...I don't really try too hard to control them. As long as they pay attention when they need to, I'm not gonna yell at them for talking in class...
Umm, let's see. I think the worst part of my schedule so far is that I have 7am gate duty on Wednesday, where we have to come in early and stand at the front gates and be all like "Hi, Hello, Good Morning" to the students as they walk in. The worst part is that I don't have class until 10 on Wednesday...but I'd have to be there at 7:30 anyways...I have a pretty nice schedule. I have one day with 5 classes, two with 4 classes and two with 3 classes. 10 are M5 level and 9 are M2 level. I'm done with my classes by 2:20 every day, even if I don't get to leave then. I still end up feeling like students do though...eager to get out of there by the time 4pm rolls around.
They have a nice cheap cafeteria to eat lunch in with some yummy fruit and ice cream...the prices are probably about half of what you'd pay on the street. The school makes it cheaper basically. Let's see...it gets really warm during the day, even with fans and wind going everywhere. The worst part is when you get so warm you don't realize it until you step into air conditioning and you're like "omg this feels wonderful". Then you step back into the heat and you're like "omg this is terrible"! I don't know that I'll ever truly get used to the heat...it always feels better after it rains though!
It was a pretty quiet weekend. We had a half day on Friday because the King was coming to Ayutthaya. It was pretty nice. I didn't go, but I watched it on TV. Everyone here gets super excited over their King. Friday night just hung out with the other teachers. We went to a club, where the bass was so loud it felt like it was literally thrumming through you. I thought it was pretty cool in that aspect. There's something neat about feeling music like that. Saturday was some shopping and an attempt to see the Avenger's...which didn't work out so well since it was only showing in Thai language that day...and because Men in Black 3 had just come out. We went to see Men in Black 3 which was pretty amusing. Sunday was more chore shopping.
Today, the start of week 2. I am pleased to report that I am at least feeling more confident about teaching. I think it can only get better. The rain pouring outside my room right now sounds really awesome and is bound to cool down the temperature for the evening. Anyways...I think that's my report for the week! All nice and typed up. Until there is more to say....
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Dun Dun Dun
I start teaching tomorrow. I will be at school at 7:30 in the morning. Will I be teaching then? Who knows! Will I be desperately wishing I was still passed out? The answer is definitely yes.
In the meantime I suppose I should fill you in on the past couple of days which have been rather interesting. Thursday Jacob, Neil and I went to our school, accompanied by Pook and her assistant Bump. We met one of the other English teachers, and Neil's co-teacher, who explained some about how things needed to be graded, and how our lesson plans should look. All in all it was so-so on the knowledge front of what will happen tomorrow, but it was still a nice time.
We went out for lunch as a large group, and it was a huge meal. When you go out to eat with Pook the meals always end up being a huge. There were shrimp cakes, chicken with cashew, a soup, a roasted fish that stared at you, shrimp with vegetables, laub- some sort of spicy pork meat I believe, and...well that may have been it for the actual dishes. Anyways, there were 6 of us and it was still quite a lot of food. Of course it isn't a meal without desert, and we each had our own little cup of ice cream. I had coffee flavored, while the others either had Dorian or Passionfruit. It was pretty good, but of course after we finished, Pook caught sight of another desert...this one was small fruits covered in syrup and ice. We shared those, which were good as well...but everyone was stuffed.
After that, Pook was going to Bang Pa In, so we decided to tag along and go visit the Bang Pa In palace. We didn't have quite as much time there as I might have liked, because we got there later in the afternoon. Still it was quite nice to walk around in, the buildings were gorgeous, and we got to see a huge lizard chilling down by the canal. I'd seen one before in the road but I hadn't gotten a chance to take a picture before. Thailand is crawling with lizards, by the way. Walk around the apartment at night and you will see plenty of tiny ones on the walls.
On our way back to Ayutthaya from Bang Pa In, Pook decided to stop by the Japanese village because she felt like showing us some of the things around Ayutthaya. Pook is a very sweet lady, she is quite an awesome person to have as a coordinator. The village itself didn't appear to be there, but there were museums to it. The Japanese village is fairly famous because Japanese were allowed to move in there and govern themselves. This was probably in the 1940s, and as Pook said, it was a very progressive idea for its time. There is also a Portuguese village somewhere in the area of Ayutthaya, but I have no clue where it is.
Despite being stuffed on the way back we stopped at Pook's favorite stand to get rodis sai mai from. It is a desert that is made by taking sugar and stretching it until it breaks into hair like strands. It's then wrapped in a sort of pancake dough and eaten. It is quite good, light, fluffy, sugary...definitely not filling, but very awesome. Our last stop was to see the large outdoor reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya. It was quite impressive, but at that time we were all quite tired and not hungry at all...ready to just rest some.
Friday I decided to take a day trip to Bangkok. I took the bus near Ayutthaya that goes to Bangkok, having no clear idea where it ended...it worked out okay. I had to take a motorbike taxi from the bus station to the metro station. It was my first time on a motorbike, and I must say it was pretty awesome. Especially when it is warm and beautiful out...I would love to ride one all the time!
My first stop was the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok. It is famous for being a nicely preserved Thai home with beautiful gardens. It's actually 6 Thai houses in one. Jim Thompson himself is famous for bringing Thai silk to the west, making it famous, and reviving the art that might have otherwise died out. It really was a nice house to see. From there I walked to a Hindu shrine. It was just a small area, but it was heavily trafficked. Lots of people were stopping by to look and to offer incense and flowers. The area was quite smokey. There were also some dancers who would do a brief dance every so often. I'm not sure what it was for.
The last place I went was Sua Pakkard Palace...it was another Thai house turned into a museum. They had some old Thai pottery, masks. It was nice, although not as nice as Jim Thompson's house. At this point I was warm, exhausted, and not feeling well. I took the train home, which was nice and cheap, although not air conditioned.
My weekend since then has pretty much been just trying to rest and relax, to get over this annoying cold....because school starts tomorrow!
In the meantime I suppose I should fill you in on the past couple of days which have been rather interesting. Thursday Jacob, Neil and I went to our school, accompanied by Pook and her assistant Bump. We met one of the other English teachers, and Neil's co-teacher, who explained some about how things needed to be graded, and how our lesson plans should look. All in all it was so-so on the knowledge front of what will happen tomorrow, but it was still a nice time.
We went out for lunch as a large group, and it was a huge meal. When you go out to eat with Pook the meals always end up being a huge. There were shrimp cakes, chicken with cashew, a soup, a roasted fish that stared at you, shrimp with vegetables, laub- some sort of spicy pork meat I believe, and...well that may have been it for the actual dishes. Anyways, there were 6 of us and it was still quite a lot of food. Of course it isn't a meal without desert, and we each had our own little cup of ice cream. I had coffee flavored, while the others either had Dorian or Passionfruit. It was pretty good, but of course after we finished, Pook caught sight of another desert...this one was small fruits covered in syrup and ice. We shared those, which were good as well...but everyone was stuffed.
After that, Pook was going to Bang Pa In, so we decided to tag along and go visit the Bang Pa In palace. We didn't have quite as much time there as I might have liked, because we got there later in the afternoon. Still it was quite nice to walk around in, the buildings were gorgeous, and we got to see a huge lizard chilling down by the canal. I'd seen one before in the road but I hadn't gotten a chance to take a picture before. Thailand is crawling with lizards, by the way. Walk around the apartment at night and you will see plenty of tiny ones on the walls.
On our way back to Ayutthaya from Bang Pa In, Pook decided to stop by the Japanese village because she felt like showing us some of the things around Ayutthaya. Pook is a very sweet lady, she is quite an awesome person to have as a coordinator. The village itself didn't appear to be there, but there were museums to it. The Japanese village is fairly famous because Japanese were allowed to move in there and govern themselves. This was probably in the 1940s, and as Pook said, it was a very progressive idea for its time. There is also a Portuguese village somewhere in the area of Ayutthaya, but I have no clue where it is.
Despite being stuffed on the way back we stopped at Pook's favorite stand to get rodis sai mai from. It is a desert that is made by taking sugar and stretching it until it breaks into hair like strands. It's then wrapped in a sort of pancake dough and eaten. It is quite good, light, fluffy, sugary...definitely not filling, but very awesome. Our last stop was to see the large outdoor reclining Buddha in Ayutthaya. It was quite impressive, but at that time we were all quite tired and not hungry at all...ready to just rest some.
Friday I decided to take a day trip to Bangkok. I took the bus near Ayutthaya that goes to Bangkok, having no clear idea where it ended...it worked out okay. I had to take a motorbike taxi from the bus station to the metro station. It was my first time on a motorbike, and I must say it was pretty awesome. Especially when it is warm and beautiful out...I would love to ride one all the time!
My first stop was the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok. It is famous for being a nicely preserved Thai home with beautiful gardens. It's actually 6 Thai houses in one. Jim Thompson himself is famous for bringing Thai silk to the west, making it famous, and reviving the art that might have otherwise died out. It really was a nice house to see. From there I walked to a Hindu shrine. It was just a small area, but it was heavily trafficked. Lots of people were stopping by to look and to offer incense and flowers. The area was quite smokey. There were also some dancers who would do a brief dance every so often. I'm not sure what it was for.
The last place I went was Sua Pakkard Palace...it was another Thai house turned into a museum. They had some old Thai pottery, masks. It was nice, although not as nice as Jim Thompson's house. At this point I was warm, exhausted, and not feeling well. I took the train home, which was nice and cheap, although not air conditioned.
My weekend since then has pretty much been just trying to rest and relax, to get over this annoying cold....because school starts tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Exploration
It's been unusually hot here. Apparently, being close to 100 degrees everyday is not quite how hot it tends to get. It seems as though the normal is much more around 90, but it's been close to 100 almost everyday I've noticed so far. (Which probably started sometime over the weekend?) Anyways, it has in the most part deterred me from doing much during the day. Usually I get a bit restless during the day, and will go to the 7/11 which proves to me that it is far too hot to wander about until later in the day.
I'm losing track of my days a bit, so forgive me if I don't give dates. I have explored quite a few ruins since I last posted. Ayuthaya is full of them, some as part of a park, and some simply left as is, standing next to or among new buildings and temples. By now I have explored most of the larger ones within easy walking distance. They are all quite nice. There is a park nearby as well, which I think I will spend more time in perhaps once I have a phone. I would very much like to just go there and read or draw sometime.
Oh! Stray animals...stray cats and dogs seem to be everywhere in Ayuthaya, well all over. There are more stray dogs here, though I saw more cats as well in Bangkok. You can't walk down the street without seeing at least one more dogs, some may be pets but most appear to be stray. They leave you alone for the most part, though I have had a few bark viciously. :( Also when I was resting at some ruins, a dog with a collar came and licked my toes. It amused me.
The most exciting thing I have done recently, is take a boat trip. Yesterday, a couple other foreign teachers and I paid for a boat tour. We chose to stop at two temples and to see elephants bathing. The boat trip was a lot of fun, it went in a circle around Ayuthaya, which is in a way, an island surrounded by rivers. It was a nice boat ride, we got to see many houses and restaurants by the river. The first temple we stopped at was a currently active one, with quite a large Buddha inside. It was a larger complex, including housing for the monks, and an outdoor shrine to Ganesha, the elephant headed Hindi god.
Our second stop was another temple, but this time ruins. It was mostly roped off, saying there was flood damage, even though there was no water that high. Since we came in through the river, and part of the tape was raised up, we chose to ignore it and ducked under. It was worth it. The ruins were probably the best I have seen so far, beautiful. There were still in-tact towers with stone Buddhas carved inside them that you could walk through. The temple was on higher ground, so we tried to avoid going around where the main entrance could see us. We had a good 10-15 minutes before an official caught wind of us and we stole away out the back entrance to our boat. It was quite thrilling, even though we weren't in real danger of getting caught.
The last stop was to see the elephants playing in the water. It was actually quite fun, but unfortunately my camera batteries died right as we got there, and it turned out the spare ones I had weren't actually charged. (Or if they had been, they lost their charge by then...) :( It was still quite fun though! The elephants swam in the river with riders, or keepers on top of them. They sprayed water at us through their trunks as we came near, and I got a bit wet from it. They came right up next to the boat and we got to touch them...it felt so weird, very leathery and tough. The elephants also used their trunks to spray water into their mouths. We got out on land to take pictures of them, and with them. (Of course stupid camera...). They were trained well as money makers...their trunk would reach out towards you and if you gave them baht (money), they would take it and hand it up to their riders.
That was the end of the boat trip, save for the return boat ride. I ended up getting a bit wet after playing in water and accidentally getting the person behind me wet...his revenge was to splash quite vigorously. The water was warm, and made me really want to go swimming! It didn't help that along the way there were native kids playing in the water.
Well, that is really all the fun exploration that has happened recently. Next week I start teaching! Hopefully I will have made a day trip to Bangkok before then. For those of you who don't have facebook, here is a link to my photo album of Thailand pictures so far:
I hope it works for you!
I'm losing track of my days a bit, so forgive me if I don't give dates. I have explored quite a few ruins since I last posted. Ayuthaya is full of them, some as part of a park, and some simply left as is, standing next to or among new buildings and temples. By now I have explored most of the larger ones within easy walking distance. They are all quite nice. There is a park nearby as well, which I think I will spend more time in perhaps once I have a phone. I would very much like to just go there and read or draw sometime.
Oh! Stray animals...stray cats and dogs seem to be everywhere in Ayuthaya, well all over. There are more stray dogs here, though I saw more cats as well in Bangkok. You can't walk down the street without seeing at least one more dogs, some may be pets but most appear to be stray. They leave you alone for the most part, though I have had a few bark viciously. :( Also when I was resting at some ruins, a dog with a collar came and licked my toes. It amused me.
The most exciting thing I have done recently, is take a boat trip. Yesterday, a couple other foreign teachers and I paid for a boat tour. We chose to stop at two temples and to see elephants bathing. The boat trip was a lot of fun, it went in a circle around Ayuthaya, which is in a way, an island surrounded by rivers. It was a nice boat ride, we got to see many houses and restaurants by the river. The first temple we stopped at was a currently active one, with quite a large Buddha inside. It was a larger complex, including housing for the monks, and an outdoor shrine to Ganesha, the elephant headed Hindi god.
Our second stop was another temple, but this time ruins. It was mostly roped off, saying there was flood damage, even though there was no water that high. Since we came in through the river, and part of the tape was raised up, we chose to ignore it and ducked under. It was worth it. The ruins were probably the best I have seen so far, beautiful. There were still in-tact towers with stone Buddhas carved inside them that you could walk through. The temple was on higher ground, so we tried to avoid going around where the main entrance could see us. We had a good 10-15 minutes before an official caught wind of us and we stole away out the back entrance to our boat. It was quite thrilling, even though we weren't in real danger of getting caught.
The last stop was to see the elephants playing in the water. It was actually quite fun, but unfortunately my camera batteries died right as we got there, and it turned out the spare ones I had weren't actually charged. (Or if they had been, they lost their charge by then...) :( It was still quite fun though! The elephants swam in the river with riders, or keepers on top of them. They sprayed water at us through their trunks as we came near, and I got a bit wet from it. They came right up next to the boat and we got to touch them...it felt so weird, very leathery and tough. The elephants also used their trunks to spray water into their mouths. We got out on land to take pictures of them, and with them. (Of course stupid camera...). They were trained well as money makers...their trunk would reach out towards you and if you gave them baht (money), they would take it and hand it up to their riders.
That was the end of the boat trip, save for the return boat ride. I ended up getting a bit wet after playing in water and accidentally getting the person behind me wet...his revenge was to splash quite vigorously. The water was warm, and made me really want to go swimming! It didn't help that along the way there were native kids playing in the water.
Well, that is really all the fun exploration that has happened recently. Next week I start teaching! Hopefully I will have made a day trip to Bangkok before then. For those of you who don't have facebook, here is a link to my photo album of Thailand pictures so far:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.659424111962.2096932.33103631&type=1&aft=660006464922&l=446fefb496
I hope it works for you!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Settling
One of these days I am going to learn my way around google when I can't read a single thing because it's all in Thai. I really wish there was a language toggle, but I wouldn't be able to find it anyways! It's one thing that will probably always annoy me about google, even though it is a nice and international feature.
So, there has been a bit going on in my life since my first "woohoo I'm in Thailand" post but I just keep procrastinating.
The short, two day orientation is over, and I have moved out of the hotel in Bangkok into an apartment in Ayutthaya. It's about an hour north of Bangkok, depending on the transportation you take, and it is an old capital. There are ruins all over the city. It's quite interesting.
At the moment I have plenty of time to explore, although there is an unfortunate side effect called extreme heat in the middle of the day. I will be teaching in a prestigious all girl's school. I will be teaching M2 and M5 classes, which means 13 and 17 year olds. I'm doing mostly English conversation, as I understand, and will be teaching classes with about 50 students. Ugh. Not looking forward to that part. But I'm supposed to have another Thai teacher in the room, mostly to help with crowd control. Most Thai schools start around the 14th-16th of May, but mine doesn't start until the 21st, hence having plenty of free time.
Wednesday was when the big move happened. One other person from my session is living in the same complex as I am, and so are two other teachers at my school and two others at his school, who came earlier. Most of them aren't around yet, off traveling with their free time. I plan on spending most of mine in Ayutthaya, with maybe a few day trips to surrounding areas.
Anyways, Wednesday. The company that hired me is sort of a middle man, placing foreign teachers in schools, so I am working for the school, but they are helping to arrange paperwork and everything. It has been very nice. Anyways, the manager came and picked us up, her name is Pook. She was very nice, picking us up mostly because she was afraid I would get lost if we tried to meet somewhere other than at the hotel. Which is probably true. We drove, stopping at Bang-Pa In, a nearby city where the other person from my session, Colin, will be teaching. We drove by his school, which was a very nice campus, and then viewed an apartment, which was rather bleak compared to where we are staying now.
We had lunch at a restaurant on a boat...it was anchored so we didn't go anywhere, but it was quite nice. Pook recommended the fish very highly, and it was a type of communal lunch, where everyone shares the main dishes. So we had some fried fish, fish cakes, some squid type dish, greens with crab legs, papaya salad and some chicken. I actually did try eating the fried fish and fish cakes. It was okay, but certainly not enough to make me like fish. The papaya salad was really good and spicy though. After that we drove by my school, and came and settled at the Grandparent's House, as it is called. Colin ended up deciding to stay here since the pros here outweigh the pros of being able to walk to school.
Thursday I went out for about 2 hours at 10. There are two sets of ruins pretty close to the apartment, probably about 5-15 minute walk depending on which one you're going to. I went and explored there, but of course by about noon the heat was killing me. When I got back I ran into the local helper for us, named Bum, who needed my papers to make some copies. She recommended against going out early in the day, and I tend to agree, saying that going out later is better. I will be trying that from now, the heat was rather intense. Colin had to go to the tailor later that afternoon with Pook and I tagged along for the heck of it. I got to see a sort of cloth shop, where they had lots of fun silk cloth. After we had dinner again at another nice restaurant. All in all, the later in the day it is out, the nicer it tends to be.
As for the next bit, I just plan to do more exploring. There are plenty of ruins to see and some temples too. They rent bikes at the apartments, so I will probably do that one of these times. But that about sums up my life these past couple days...enjoy the wall of text!
So, there has been a bit going on in my life since my first "woohoo I'm in Thailand" post but I just keep procrastinating.
The short, two day orientation is over, and I have moved out of the hotel in Bangkok into an apartment in Ayutthaya. It's about an hour north of Bangkok, depending on the transportation you take, and it is an old capital. There are ruins all over the city. It's quite interesting.
At the moment I have plenty of time to explore, although there is an unfortunate side effect called extreme heat in the middle of the day. I will be teaching in a prestigious all girl's school. I will be teaching M2 and M5 classes, which means 13 and 17 year olds. I'm doing mostly English conversation, as I understand, and will be teaching classes with about 50 students. Ugh. Not looking forward to that part. But I'm supposed to have another Thai teacher in the room, mostly to help with crowd control. Most Thai schools start around the 14th-16th of May, but mine doesn't start until the 21st, hence having plenty of free time.
Wednesday was when the big move happened. One other person from my session is living in the same complex as I am, and so are two other teachers at my school and two others at his school, who came earlier. Most of them aren't around yet, off traveling with their free time. I plan on spending most of mine in Ayutthaya, with maybe a few day trips to surrounding areas.
Anyways, Wednesday. The company that hired me is sort of a middle man, placing foreign teachers in schools, so I am working for the school, but they are helping to arrange paperwork and everything. It has been very nice. Anyways, the manager came and picked us up, her name is Pook. She was very nice, picking us up mostly because she was afraid I would get lost if we tried to meet somewhere other than at the hotel. Which is probably true. We drove, stopping at Bang-Pa In, a nearby city where the other person from my session, Colin, will be teaching. We drove by his school, which was a very nice campus, and then viewed an apartment, which was rather bleak compared to where we are staying now.
We had lunch at a restaurant on a boat...it was anchored so we didn't go anywhere, but it was quite nice. Pook recommended the fish very highly, and it was a type of communal lunch, where everyone shares the main dishes. So we had some fried fish, fish cakes, some squid type dish, greens with crab legs, papaya salad and some chicken. I actually did try eating the fried fish and fish cakes. It was okay, but certainly not enough to make me like fish. The papaya salad was really good and spicy though. After that we drove by my school, and came and settled at the Grandparent's House, as it is called. Colin ended up deciding to stay here since the pros here outweigh the pros of being able to walk to school.
Thursday I went out for about 2 hours at 10. There are two sets of ruins pretty close to the apartment, probably about 5-15 minute walk depending on which one you're going to. I went and explored there, but of course by about noon the heat was killing me. When I got back I ran into the local helper for us, named Bum, who needed my papers to make some copies. She recommended against going out early in the day, and I tend to agree, saying that going out later is better. I will be trying that from now, the heat was rather intense. Colin had to go to the tailor later that afternoon with Pook and I tagged along for the heck of it. I got to see a sort of cloth shop, where they had lots of fun silk cloth. After we had dinner again at another nice restaurant. All in all, the later in the day it is out, the nicer it tends to be.
As for the next bit, I just plan to do more exploring. There are plenty of ruins to see and some temples too. They rent bikes at the apartments, so I will probably do that one of these times. But that about sums up my life these past couple days...enjoy the wall of text!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Surprise! I'm in Thailand!
The hotel I'm staying at in Bangkok doesn't appear to be near any touristy areas, however it is full of shopping. Between my brief strolls yesterday and today, most of what I have seen consists of open-air market stalls and food. The stalls sell anything from clothes to jewelery to music, and there are usually plenty of people milling about.
Last night I had some Thai noodles from the small shop across from the hotel. Food is pretty cheap, considering dinner cost me about 1 US dollar. The noodles were really yummy. There are a lot of small sit down places, that are run by families. They cook the food in a little open air kitchen, and they are really nice.
Today was spent in orientation type stuff...we spent the morning learning some Thai language, which is nice and always helpful. We have just learned some spoken language, nothing about reading or writing the script, which is a little unnerving. Thai has a very unique script, at least compared to the ones I've seen before, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I half expected it to be more similar than it is. Anyways, in addition to learning a little Thai language we also learned about some customs, and how to bow politely. There are only 6 of us, so we're quite a small group.
I'll be teaching at a school in the area around Bangkok...that is about all I have learned so far. I will learn more tomorrow, and I am hoping that I am not too close to the center of the city. Big cities are nice to visit, but to live in, I prefer my smaller towns. Not too small, but a good size.
Well, I am still plenty tired from traveling and my day, so I will leave you with just this short post before I simply start rambling. Enjoy my 12 hour time difference posts from the future. :)
...and I shall enjoy the 30 minutes it takes to figure out how to post this when google is being a jerk and making all the buttons read in Thai so I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing...
The hotel I'm staying at in Bangkok doesn't appear to be near any touristy areas, however it is full of shopping. Between my brief strolls yesterday and today, most of what I have seen consists of open-air market stalls and food. The stalls sell anything from clothes to jewelery to music, and there are usually plenty of people milling about.
Last night I had some Thai noodles from the small shop across from the hotel. Food is pretty cheap, considering dinner cost me about 1 US dollar. The noodles were really yummy. There are a lot of small sit down places, that are run by families. They cook the food in a little open air kitchen, and they are really nice.
Today was spent in orientation type stuff...we spent the morning learning some Thai language, which is nice and always helpful. We have just learned some spoken language, nothing about reading or writing the script, which is a little unnerving. Thai has a very unique script, at least compared to the ones I've seen before, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. I half expected it to be more similar than it is. Anyways, in addition to learning a little Thai language we also learned about some customs, and how to bow politely. There are only 6 of us, so we're quite a small group.
I'll be teaching at a school in the area around Bangkok...that is about all I have learned so far. I will learn more tomorrow, and I am hoping that I am not too close to the center of the city. Big cities are nice to visit, but to live in, I prefer my smaller towns. Not too small, but a good size.
Well, I am still plenty tired from traveling and my day, so I will leave you with just this short post before I simply start rambling. Enjoy my 12 hour time difference posts from the future. :)
...and I shall enjoy the 30 minutes it takes to figure out how to post this when google is being a jerk and making all the buttons read in Thai so I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing...
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