Thailand

Finally...

2007-02-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here's an online photo album.

Warning:There are almost 200 pictures here. I took 600. Most pictures might be a little boring.

Oh yeah, and here is a photo of the English/Foreign Language Department (Secondary):

From Thailand

Clockwise: Waree, Jaime, Me, Kristy, Beth, Jai, Belle, Emily, Nina, and Katy.

This video is hard to see, but they are throwing a plate of vegetables across 3 or 4 lanes of traffic. The restaurant is called, "Flying Vegetables" and you pay for them to throw vegetables (think flying fish at Pike's Place). Anyway, in this video, the videos hit a sign and missed.

We bought these things that are like hot air balloons. What you do is light it, and hold onto it until you make a wish, and then let it go. Unfortunately, my memory ran out right after we let it go, so there isn't much, but it was a neat experience.

In 12 hours I will be..

2007-01-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

Heading to the airport. In about 48 hours I will be in Spokane!

This won't be my last blog! I'm hoping to put more pictures and a video up when I have a better connection and a space bar that works.

The girls have class now!

Last Day of Class!

2007-01-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my last day of class. It went way better than last week. It might be due to the fact that the teacher was actually there. Oh yeah, and the Principal observed the first class (the naughty ones).

The only problem was that my lesson was finished 20 minutes early. Oops.

The next class was good, but they were worse than the week before. They were fun though. The same girl that drew a picture for us last week, drew a new one for me. It was cute. It said, "Don't forget 2(4)." (their section), "I love you" and my name in Thai. Maybe when I'm back home I will scan the picture. She has the best English in the class, and she is one of those girls who walks in the room and all the attention is on her. Here is a picture of them (she's the one in the middle):

Anyway, that's about it! I am completely shopped out! I can honestly say I'm ready to go home to a bed that doesn't have a towel for a sheet, and a hot shower!

Chiang Mai!

2007-01-24T01:42:00.001-08:00

Chiang Mai was great! We arrived Thursday night, and checked-in to our hotel...which is brand new! We were the first to sleep there, and it was very nice (except for the fact that didn't have things such as a soap dish, or hand towels...)

We then went to dinner at the Night Market..and of course shopped at the Night Market afterwards! Their night markets are a lot better and less expensive.

Chiang Mai is very different from Bangkok. It's colder, quieter, and the tourists that go there we have seen are mostly Thai.

The next day, Friday, was the best!!! We started with an elephant ride..which is what I have been waiting for this whole time! It was definetely worth it. Before the ride they put on a show. Elephants have the greatest personalities, but I don't know if they were trained to look like that, or if they were really enjoying themselves (I'm hoping they were enjoying themselves).

They also played the harmonica, played soccer, showed us how they slept, and stacked logs (I don't know). It was pretty hilarious.

After the show we went on an hour long elephant ride...through the jungle and the mountains. It was great! Our chaperone got off the elephant at one point and took a picture of us:

After the elephant ride, we all went and had a 2-hour Thai massage. Thai massages are a little different than American massages. They hurt. A lot. They also sit on you, and focus a lot on pushing down, mostly on your legs. It hurt, but at the end, it was quite relaxing.

We went home for awhile, and then went to a Classical Dance and Music dinner. We sat on the floor, and ate authentic Chiang Mai food with our hands. During and after dinner they had dancing in the center of the floor. They also had dancing and people playing music on a stage in the front. P. Lek, one of our hosts who owns the Co-Op on Wittaya's campus, was a former dancer and dance coach. She taught us how to dance with our hands. It was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of a "fish" chasing and wooeing a girl (I think):

Some lady came up to me and asked if I can take a picture with this guy. Supposedly I look like Miss Universe (she has been in the news here for dating a Thai Tennis Player). I don't know, she's Puerto Rican with bright blue eyes. However, it was a nice compliment!

After the dinner, we went back to the Night Market for more shopping!

Saturday:
Saturday was an interestind day. SermSri, who usually takes us everywhere, decided to hang out with P.Bo, her friend that lives in Chiang Mai and owns a law and accounting office (if you ever want to find a job here Dad, I can find one for you). Our host for the day was P. Lek...who barely speaks English! She took us to the top of a mountain, in which I already forgot the name (I'll look it up later). The ride there was the craziest, and I definetely wasn't feeling well by the time we got to the top. When we got there, we headed to the Temple, which had 306 steps...that was a blast. The temple looked like most temples we have seen, with a pagoda, and Buddhas everywhere. It was pretty neat to see the view from up there, but the pictures that I took didn't really turn out because it was foggy. Here is a picture from inside the Temple area:

After the Mountain, we went to Royal Flora 2006. Royal Flora is this huge garden place that was made to commemorate the King. There were sections of this area such as an Herbal section, Mushrooms, Orchids, and a lot more! However, there was no English at all. Us girls were basically the only white people in the whole place..and people, of course, were taking pictures of us (this happened a lot in Chiang Mai). It was pretty frustrating but funny at the same time. I think we spent most of the time staring at the map. Here is a picture from the top of the Monument for the King, I think it was called the Grand Pavilion:

Later that night we went to a new Night Market that was way better and less crowded. It was a lot cheaper too. They had more handmade goods there, and there was really no point to barter with them either. It was quite nice. Oh yeah, and it was walking distance from our hotel!!

Sunday:

On Sunday we went to Church which was an interesting experience in itself. Definetely not as traditional as the Catholic Church!

After lunch we went to an Umbrella Factory. We saw how they made and watched them paint umbrellas. These umbrellas are quite beautiful. Here is a lady painting one:

Later that night we went back to the awesome night market by our hotel. I can honestly say that I'm shopped out now.

Monday we headed back home. I didn't realize how hot Bangkok was until we arrived here. It was a lot colder in Chiang Mai. When I say colder, I mean it was low to mid-70s and most of us were wearing long sleeved shirts.

I forgot to mention that Chiang Mai is a lot more calmer than Bangkok, and the traffic is not nearly as bad. I hope that Jaime will someday move to Chiang Mai so I can visit her (hint, hint!)

Well, I think I will wait to write about my last day teaching tomorrow, since this is the longest blog ever! I hope everyone is doing well and I will see some of you in a few days!!
I miss you Keija (haha)!

School

2007-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 10:00 p.m.

Today was actually spent in the classroom (surprise, I know)! My teacher was gone on an M3/Girl Scout-like Retreat, and so, I was all alone! Jaime was kind enough to join me..and I am very thankful for her being there! The first class was strange...they seriously did not want to know anything about us..nor did they want to do anything for that matter. It was a struggle, but we made it through. They got their worksheet done and we played Heads Up 7-Up and Hangman, which was pretty fun.

Because of that class I dreaded going to the second. The second, however, was amazing compared to the first. They were so good!

Anyway, after class we went the tailor's to try on our clothes. I'm a little worried, but we'll see (mine didn't have a lining, or sleeves so I'm having a hard time envisioning it done).

We went to dinner and to the Night Market again, where I am pretty sure I spent way too much money (but I did buy presents)!

Anyway, I won't be posting for four days because I'm going to Chang Mai tomorrow and will be there til Monday afternoon. I know, we're spoiled rotten here.

I'll make sure to take hundreds of pictures!

Pattaya Beach!

2007-01-16T03:17:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Monday and today we were at Pattaya Beach. We stayed at a resort that had amusement park rides. Jaime has summed up Thailand very nicely in saying that Thailand is "the Hawaii for Europeans." I have never been to Europe, but now I know what it is like being on a beach with old men in speedos:

On Sunday we ate dinner at a revolving restaurant 52 stories high (like the Space Needle), and watched the sunset (it was quite lovely). We then went and had ice cream at Swensens, and shopped around. There were a total of nine of us...and we were all wearing these amazing yellow tropical shirts..it was definetely a sight to see!

Monday was spent on the beach! It was well needed! Jaime, Kristy and I had a full body Thai massage that lasted an hour...on the beach! It was pretty incredible..and worth more than $6 (yes, only $6).

Monday night we went to another show, similar to the other one (with elephants, dancing, music, and costumes, etc) except not as good. They did have wonderful pyrotechnics though! Oh yeah, they also had big-headed baby creepy things:

Today we didn't do much except go walk on the beach, and shop.
By the way, I'm very allergic to mosquitoes...my arms look like I have been in a war. Thank goodness for English speaking pharmicists and medicine that is a little more than a dollar!

Here's a typical picture of a sunset(at Pattaya Beach):

and here's a picture of Katy demonstrating how to use an Asian toilet (old picture that I forgot to put up earlier):

Yesterday and Today

2007-01-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Victory Monument. Yep, that's all I saw of that.

For future reference. This is a "tuk-tuk." They are crazy. This is what we road in in Bangkok traffic yesterday.

At the floating market (I think the most popular). Yes, we are on a boat.

At the ruins (Ayutthaya, World Heritage), it was built in the 1400s and destroyed in the 1600s (or something like that).

Proof that EVERYONE wears yellow...and it's not even Monday!

We went to another part of the ruins..but it looked about the same. The floating market looks cooler than that picture, but my pictures aren't that great of it. Maybe later I will put more.

p.s. I will be gone until Tuesday night (my time)...so if I don't blog for awhile, that is why (Geneva)!

Yesterday

2007-01-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

Friday 10:30 p.m. (When I started writing this, before the keyboard went all Thai on me).

Today was a very good day. I was planning on observing the M4 (Sophomores) students today, because they had an exam on Monday, and so they were going over the exam. I showed up to class, and could not find the teacher anywhere. The students had no idea where she was, so I asked another teacher, and she said she went off with another teacher somewhere. I went back to the Foreign Language office and found the teacher she went off with, and she told me she was on her way. I decided to go back to the class. While waiting for the teacher to arrive, I introduced myself to the students, and had them ask me questions. They were so cute! One girl asked me "why are you so cute?" How do you answer something like that? Anyway, we ended up playing Heads Up 7-Up and Simon Says (me being Simon). It was a blast! I had so much fun!

After class, Jaime, Kristy and I went to Jaime's sister's tailor (so she could get some more skirts). That was an adventure. We rode on a TUK-TUK...look at the last post for picture. It was busy where we went, so it was pretty crazy. Good think I was in the middle because I think I would have fallen out if I wasn't (because I'm so graceful)! We eventually found the tailor. I decided to have a coat made and tailored for me (hope you don't mind, mom and dad..I didn't charge it!) I'm very excited about the coat. We also went to a craft place, where I had to buy a brand new suitcase (because mine ripped)...that was interesting bringing it on a skytrain...

Later in the evening we went to Siam Niramit Fantasy. It was amazing and everyone should look at the website:

The props, special effects, everything was better than any Broadway play I have seen! It puts The Lion King to shame!
Here's a picture of the set:

Anyway, I'm done with the post..another post will shortly come later talking about today (Saturday).

Friday. 9:30 a.m.

2007-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

Nothing very exciting has happened in the past two days. Yesterday we did get altered for a business suit (that will be made in Thai silk, and paid for by the school)!! That was pretty exciting. I have never been measured before...ha. It was pretty funny, because she could only speak Thai, and she was talking to SermSri (the director), and I have no idea what she was saying. We did get to pick out the style we want, and the fabric..so let's hope mine looks good!

Since this is short, I thought I would give you another perspective of what is going on here. This is an email from Jaime Z.:

Hello from Thailand!!!! It has been such an adventure and I have only been here for 4 days! The flight was decent and the jet lag hasn't been too bad yet. Our hosts have been fabulous and have treated us to many wonderful experiences already. At lunch today, we were talking to another american english teacher, scott, who told us a little more about the school. For instance, it is not academically rigorous. If a student fails a test, then they take it again and pass no matter what. The teacher has to pass the student even if they fail the test. If a teacher sends an F grade to the administration, the adminstration changes it to a pass. This school is more of an 'activity school' which prides itself on producing good girls who can sing and swim. It is a very different culture. We were unsure of what we were going to do when we arrived. We were given schedules and told that we were going to teach 7-8 periods a week. My first period was today (Monday) at 1:30. However, my Thai teacher, Waree that I am working with was not there today. She was at a retreat with senior girls. I was only teacher in the classroom with 13-14 year old Thai girls. It was quite an experience and I was terrified. However, it turned out pretty okay. We did a lesson on the differences between Thai culture and American culture, of which there are many. The girls are very smiley and talkative. During the class I taught today, I never had all the girls attention, and they never paid attention to each other. It was a really different experience. There is no discipline here and everyone is on Thai time. This means that all of the students arrive when they feel like arriving. I was not sure when to start the class :) Some of the other girls who are with me are teaching classes with roughly 50 students in them. It's crazy. This school I'm at has 3300 students with 1200 students who board here. Apparently next weekend the freshman girls are going on retreat and are missing three days of school and a fourth day if they are tired from the camping trip. School is not the priority. It was fun to teach the class, but really scary. Four girls gave me their email address, which I can only take as that they like me. I only have 10 more periods to teach while I am here.

Another interesting thing about the school is that about 80% if the students and faculty are buddhist but go to church and read the bible because they think it is good advice and that Jesus was a good teacher.

The students have different lengths of hair depending on their grade in school. Today two of the other whitworth students saw an administrator cutting a girl's hair and the girl was almost crying. All the girls are required to wear uniforms.
Apparently at the beginning and end of the class the students stand up and greet/say goodbye to the teacher. This did not happen to me, but I did not have a Thai teacher in the room with me.

The King is very loved in this culture. On Monday's everyone wears a yellow shirt with the King's emblem on it to honor him. Our hosts bought us each a shirt and we all wore it today. When we went out to dinner there were yellow shirts everywhere. All throughout the city there are pictures of the King and signs that say "Long live the King." I asked my Thai students what their favorite thing about Thailand was and a few of them responded with "the King."

We went to the movies last night with the director of the school. We saw the Holiday which was amazing. The movie theaters are 100 times better than those at home. Also, we are given assigned seats and before the movie, everyone stands up and there is a short presentation on the King. The honor the King every chance they get. Us Americans laughed a lot during the movie and it was interesting because not many of the Thai's laughed. It is because they don't understand the culture behind the jokes. It was quite an experience. This is quite long and I must get going. I'm thinking of all of you and missing the United States and all of the students. Please feel free to share what you feel like with the students. I am in a completely different world!!!

Well, tonight we are going to dinner with the principal to this Classical Dance place (??), on Saturday we are going to the ruins and to a floating market, and on Sunday we are leaving Pattaya Beach for three days (since we have Monday and Tuesday off)...so many more pictures are to come!!

M6 (Senior) Retreat

2007-01-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 10:00 p.m.

This is my second time writing the blog. I'm in a different computer room, and these computers are older and slower...so it timed out.

Anyway, I thought we were going camping, too bad it was far from it. We stayed at a Ranch! It had hot water, a pool, and a lake..it was very nice. Did I mention we take cold showers here?

M6, or 12th grade in the U.S, had a retreat before they graduate (on February 10th). The retreat was very similar to American high school retreats. They sang and danced, had speakers, gave out awards, had skits, etc.

At one point we danced and sang with the girls. It was so much fun! I got them all to do the robot..which was great.

At the end of the night, the students had a lighting ceremony, where the girls would come up and light their candle from a teacher. At the end, they sang Eternal Flame by the Bangles (it made my day, Geneva!)

Anyway, here are some pics:

Us girls in front of the Ranch

Sitting in front of the pool.

A video is coming later (if I have a better connection)!

More pics.

2007-01-08T06:02:00.000-08:00

It says "Long live the king!"...they really love their King here.

Normal traffic, from what I have seen.

A lady on the boat selling gifts as we were on our way to the floating market.

Jaime with Buddhist monks in the background.

First Day of School!

2007-01-08T05:35:00.000-08:00

So today was our first day of school..and yes, we taught. I only had one class today because the other classes were taking a test, so I didn't have to go.

We were told that if we were to talk English to them, that they would understand us pretty well. I made a worksheet about Famous American People in Science and Technology and had a brief description about Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Graham Bell and what they invented.

After class, all of us realized that the students talk..a lot. I don't know if they have discipline problems or what....but I have realized it is difficult to discipline the students when they are all speaking a different language and they cannot understand you.

Anyway, I had to repeat my lesson twice, use a microphone, draw pictures on the board, and describe for 5 minutes what bifocals means (even when they were wearing glasses..they still had trouble understanding). It was fun and I am excited to improve this lesson.

Interesting facts about the school:
1. Each grade has a certain hair cut that they must go by (so what I have been told)
2. Students have to take a test in order to move on..if they fail they can take it again..if they fail again, they get a "passing" grade...so in other words, no student fails! This school is based mostly on activities.
3. In the beginning and end of class, students stand up and greet/say goodbye to the teacher.
4. When the students are seniors, they take a test in order receive a green card, which means they are accepted to a university. Once the students receive a green card, they stop trying in class..because they do not need to do anything more.

Yesterday:
Went to a movie, "The Holiday." The movie theater is amazing and beautiful here. Before the movie begins, there is a montage for the king, in which it shows pictures of Thailand and the King and plays music. Everybody stands up for this.
During the movie, us American girls noticed that we laughed at parts of the movie that other people didn't...we are not sure if this is a social or a language difference (such as, maybe the subtitles were behind?) They did, however, laugh at a part where there was no language, only facial expressions. It was an interesting experience.

For tomorrow:
We are going on a field trip with the seniors (so we don't have to teach tomorrow or Wednesday). Next Monday and Tuesday are holidays, so we don't have to teach. The weekend after that (I think) we are going to Chang Mai for 4 days!!! This is very exciting, because we will be able to ride an elephant, get back massages and much more (don't worry Mom and Dad, it is chaperoned by a wonderful lady name Serm Si..prounounced "Sum See", she is the cutest lady ever!)

Well, this is long, and it's getting late. Hope everyone is doing well.

PICTURES!

2007-01-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, hopefully I put these in order, sorry if they are not, I'm sure you can figure it out. Two pictures are of our living situation, on of our bedroom and one of our living area. The other one is of the secondary school..it's huge! There are over 1200 students in secondary (about 3300 all together). The one of a few of us being silly is at the Grand Palace...not sure if we are being culturally insensitive, but our Thai guides/teachers thought it was pretty funny. Another one is of me drinking out of a coconut on a boat. And the other one is of Jaime and me holding hands with a nutcracker. They still have christmas and new year's decorations all over the place! There are a couple of Christmas trees here at the school still on..maybe it has to do with the Epiphany?? This is funny because only 1% of the country is Christian.

Anyway, I'll post a lot more photos now that I figured it out!

Night Market

2007-01-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

The night market here is amazing, I feel like I can't even explain it without pictures. They have a big stage where various singers perform throughout the night. One girl sang London Bridge by Fergie and she was way better than her! She had awesome male backup dancers as well..ha. On one side of the market there is a row of food venues...and on the other are shops...it's almost like the fair, I guess. It is fun to barter with the people.

We have taken both the sky train and the underground subway (?) and they are both the cleanest places I have seen...but then again I can only compare it to New York, and everything is cleaner than New York.

Anyway, I have realized us Americans are really loud people. It is actually bothering me some now that I'm here...how loud we are. I don't know what I will do when I come back to the states and everyone is loud.

Oh yeah, and another thing...there are cats and dogs everywhere! The funny thing is though...one of ourThai guides was asking me if I had any pets..and I told her one dog and two cats, and she said, "really? they can live in the same house together?" It was pretty funny.

Today we have a free day. We are planning on going to church at 10:30 and then possibly China Town (I swear, every big city has a China town), and I don't know what else. I still have to prepare for teaching tomorrow!!

2007-01-06T01:52:00.000-08:00

So I was going to have a picture post..but the connection here is so slow I don't know if I will be able to!

It has been really fun so far. Yesterday we learned that we will start teaching on Monday..I'm not even joking! Jaime is actually all by herself because the teacher is going on a field trip.

It's a little scary. I'm supposed to teach the students about a famous people in Science and Technology. I was thinking Bill Gates? So, we'll see. Luckily I am only teaching a total of two different classes and 7 periods (each 50 minutes) a week.

Today we went to the Grand Palace, another Temple that has a Reclining Buddha (the biggest one in Thailand), and a boat trip to a floating market. Later tonight we are going to go shopping and to the night market (don't worry dad..they took out all the trash cans so there won't be any more bombs..in trash cans, that is). I can't even describe the traffic here...it is so busy..and the motorcylists are crazy..it's all crazy. The food here is amazing, and I haven't eaten anything super spicy yet...I have had Phad Thai and Phad See Iew (my favorite!). We haven't even bough anything yet because they are treating us so well here. They feed us and they gave us baht (thai money) and a few tshirts, and other trinkets. They gave us a yellow polo shirt to wear on Mondays because the king was born on Monday and so EVERYONE wears yellow.

Well I gotta go now...we are going to go to dinner and go shopping!!!

Hopefully I can get pictures on here soon!

I'm In Thailand

2007-01-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I'm here, obviously. We havent done a whole lot yet so there is nothing to write about. The weather is very nice. The Academy is beautiful and open. In an hour we are having lunch with the faculty and I'm guessing we are going to have a tour of the place. It took us 27 hours to get here, but it definately did not feel like that. The showers are cold, but they aren't bad. Well, hopefully in the next few days I will take lots of pictures and will be able to get on here.

p.s. Geneva, I have it so I have to approve the comments. Lame, I know, but I want to be safe.
Becky

Website

2006-12-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

Here is the website for the school I will be teaching at:
http://web.wattana.ac.th/english/index.html

In two days I will be leaving for Thailand for three weeks (with Jaime Z.)! I am very excited, and cannot wait!

Oh yeah, and it's 90 degrees there right now!