Living it up in Sisaket

We decided to spend last weekend exploring our province and our local city...bit of a mistake!! We arrived in Si Saket with no real plan as to what to do, checked into a hotel (described in my lonely planet as designed like a dolls house?!) and went to explore.

We found reviews for an amazing restaurant on trip advisor, serving Thai and Western food so decided to give it a try. Frank's was definitely the weirdest place I have nearly eaten in....we arrived in what looked like somebody's house with some patio tables in the front garden. One man was sitting at the back on his laptop (presumably writing these amazing reviews on the internet for himself) and came over. We're not quite sure where he was from, maybe Germany, maybe South Africa, but we sat down and asked for a menu. There were no menus - Frank is a little bit too chilled for that. No, he had a little rummage in his personal freezer and offered us jumbo sausage and chips, pizza or something and red cabbage. It all got a bit too weird, so we made a speedy getaway back to the hotel to order room service instead...

The next day, we hit up Sisaket's biggest attraction  - the aquarium! Don't get too excited -it is 2 rooms of fish tanks and a shark tunnel! At the end, we decided to go the whole way and signed up for a 15 minute fish pedicure. I have never wished time to go faster, did not really enjoy hundreds of fish tickling my feet as they ate all the dead skin. Lush.

And then came the most exciting part of the day...taxi to tescos! We ate pizza and spent hours wandering around the supermarket, and came across the highlight of the weekend - TEABAGS!! YAY!

Sunday we went to Sisaket zoo - we bought bread and bananas on the way in and fed the animals as we went around. Dan nearly caught rabies from a monkey he was trying to feed which bit him, and I stood about a metre from a hippo's mouth. Could have put my arm in if I wanted to...no thanks!!

All in all, the weekend was funny, not the most thrilling, but good to spend it with the other ETAs Meg, Sian and Dan.

We headed back to Sisaket Wednesday evening to meet up with Joe, one of last year's ETAs who is starting a road trip around remote areas where students are placed. Was good to get a bit of moral support and for him to pass on some messages back to the British Council. We spent the evening chilling out with dinner, beer, shisha and Thai pop music.

Joe, Dan, Meg, Sian, Me and some of the Thai mentors (can't remember/spell everyone's name!)

 Meg, Sian, Me

Dan's mentor and Joe

3 weeks done in Sisaket, has gone quite quickly, and looking forward to doing some more travelling soon!

Home Comforts

I am settling in reasonably well into Thai life, I have had a few wobbly moments but on the whole embracing living in another culture. However, there are a few things which I am missing from home! Obviously not including friends and family - that's a given, these are luxury things which I cannot wait to go home to.

Hint hint mum and dad if you are reading, this is what I want stocked up when I get home - mainly food!!!

• Cadbury's chocolate - would kill for a Twirl about now - Thai chocolate is not up to standard!
• Cups of tea and a hobnob
• Pasta!
• Flushing toilet and loo roll
• Hot bath with bubbles
• Pizza! (pizza express of course - padana and a peroni for staff food please?!)
• TV - and make it crap TV please, give me a bit of This Morning or Jeremy Kyle with my breakkie!!
• Living within walking distance of beach
• A cold pint of cider after a busy shift - not too fussed about the shift but will meet you guys in the pub after!
• Nail varnish - forgot to bring any
• Home without any wildlife! e.g. no lizards, cockroaches, beetles etc please!!
• ROAST DINNER WITH PAPA KEV'S POTATOES my absolute fave!
• Some kind of cuddly toy - sounds incredibly sad but when you are this lonely would be nice to have something to cuddle up to!!
• Cheese and fresh baguette - actually any kind of bread Thais are obviously not big fans!

I am sure there is much more that I can't think of now, but this trip has definitely made me think about what I have got and to be grateful of the little things!!

Teaching Thai Style

As a primary ed student, the teaching aspect of the project was one of the main pulls for me. Teaching is something I feel reasonably confident in doing, obviously I am only a trainee, but absolutely love working with children and have really enjoyed my teaching placements as part of my course. However, teaching in Thailand has come as a big shock to me!

When I applied, I think I was incredibly naive in the level of English spoken in the school. In my head, the English teachers had a high level of spoken English, and children would be able to understand my instructions. Maybe this is the case if the schools are in the city, but in my village (in Thailand's poorest region), it is not reality.

I think that in hindsight, it would be more effective to teach English to the English teachers as opposed to the children. What's the saying - catch a man a fish he can eat for a day, teach a man to fish he can eat for a lifetime. Something along those lines anyway! But I definitely think that if I am only here for 8 weeks, teaching the teachers would make a bigger impact than teaching the children.

I am finding it a struggle to communicate with teachers as to what they want me to actually teach the children, so doing it a bit freestyle! Classroom management is incredibly difficult when children have no idea what I am telling them to do, and I have had my fair few lesson flops now where I have an activity planned, but no amount of gestures and pictures can get the message across to the children. For some lessons, I have the English teacher around who can translate a little bit into Thai, for other lessons it is me in control and I usually end up singing at the children.... I am not sure what they think of me!

My first day at school was a bit embarrassing (classic Caroline style). I was handed a microphone to introduce myself to 1000 students and 80 teachers. To cut a short story even shorter, I misheard the headteacher, and instead of answering the question "Are you single?" I thought he wanted a sing-song. So started singing heads, shoulders, knees and toes (with actions)...in front of the whole school...No wonder the answer to his original question is yes, yes I am...not surprising ha!!

The Primary end of Kiawnum school

Play area

The teachers in the school are some of the friendliest people I have ever met, they buy me fruit as I said once that I liked watermelon - I am now given bags of it every day! They do everything they can to help me settle in and make sure I am happy in the school, and even though on the whole they don't speak English, they always have a smile on their face and look pleased to see me.

I am becoming a local celebrity in my village, everytime I wobble along on my little pink bike I am met with shouts of "Hello Teacher" which I find very strange but sweet.

Teaching here will definitely have an impact on my teaching back in the UK - I am already becoming very aware of my word choices and how I phrase instructions - useful when teaching children with EAL back in the UK! There are some differences, mainly that Thai teachers often (mostly gently) hit the pupils for class control, and children sit in rows so there is limited group work - something which is greatly encouraged back home. I tried to get children to talk to their partners for one activity and it did not work at all!

One of the English displays

Another aspect which is different is that back home, we are encouraged to ask children high-level questions in order to develop their understanding, but here I have found that asking very simple, often closed, questions is the most effective way of engaging the children and ensuring they know what they are doing.

Let's go to the beach beach!!

After culture shock this week in my little village, another ETA Meg and myself decided to have a chilled weekend as far away as possible! As a Bournemouth girl, I love being by the beach, so we decided to take the 12 hour journey to get some sea air.

Meg arrived in my village Friday night, and it was so good to have some company - I have been going a little stir crazy so was such a luxury just to chat rubbish and watch a movie (and eat some kinder bueno...mmm). 

The next morning, we had a knock on the door and it was fellow ETAs Sian and Dan turning up for a chat. I think they were as surprised as we were to see them, they thought they were going to a cock fight (!) - but was good to get some English speaking company! Their mentors took us out for some noodle soup, classic choice, with some random meat in - stray dog?!

Sian, Thai mentors, Dan and Meg

After lunch, we took the train to the next city of Ubon Ratchathani, which was preparing for a candle procession this weekend for the Buddhist holiday. We had a little explore of the market stalls, and a quick drink with some more ETAs (so much company!) before heading off for the night bus to Pattaya!

Making candles for the parade

After our long night on the bus we finally made it to Pattaya, checked into our hotel and headed straight for the beach - and then came disappointment. As Meg described, it was more like Skegness than Thailand! We were imagining blue skies, white sand and crystal clear water....and it just didn't meet expectations!

The Hollywood hills of.....Pattaya

We weren't going to let this ruin our weekend, so managed to haggle a cheap taxi to get to Pattaya's floating market. After missing out on seeing Bangkok's version, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about and wasn't disappointed. The buildings of the market stalls are all on stilts over the water, and people on boats drift over to try and sell you their stuff. We didn't buy, but did decide to fly on a zip wire across the market - bit surreal but good fun! Another bonus was we managed to get in to the market without paying - we noticed a sign saying foreigners with a work permit didn't have to pay - neither of us had passports or visa with us but managed to blag it by showing them some vaguely official looking British Council business cards! Yay!

The next day, we took a boat to the nearby island of Ko Lan which was a little bit more like the beach we were expecting. Was still quite touristy, but gave us the chance to have a well needed chill and time to relax. A coconut cocktail and sunbathe later (crazy tan lines going on) and was definitely feeling a lot more positive about living in the village and about the next 6 weeks.

Ko Lan

Heavily decorated cocktail...

 Sun setting on the way back to shore

One more night in civilisation in our hotel and it was time to head back on the 12 hour bus to Si Saket, and a week of school. 

 

On the road to nowhere

Tuesday evening I said bye to Bangkok and hello to the night train! The beds on the train were my saviour to escape an awkward 10 hour journey with my mentor (she is lovely and one of the kindest people I have ever met, just doesn't speak English, so we just smile at each other!).

Train bed!

We arrived, bleary-eyed, to my apartment, where I experienced true culture shock...
Arriving at the apartment, lack of sleep and the prospect of starting school in just 1 hour was a bit overwhelming, added to the cockroaches and lizards crawling around the washing area. I was expecting basic accommodation, and to be quite honest am very happy with what I have got but didn't stop me feeling a little bit homesick!! I am sharing with 5 chinese student teachers who are all lovely and some speak English which is a bonus!

Here are some photos of my new flat:

Sharing a shower with a gecko

scorpion outside front door

Thai bath anyone?!

And lush squat toilet - there are sit down ones too but no flush, bucket of water does the trick...just squat toilets in the school though!

My new ride - the headteacher has bought me a brand new bike, not really sure why as had another one yesterday, think it is to do with me wearing a pink skirt yesterday...

It is definitely true that Thai people are extremely generous, everybody is trying their hardest to help me settle in, turning up at my door with bags of food and big smiles is definitely helping me get to grips with life in a tiny village!

Bangkok

The last few days have been spent settling into life in Thailand, but I’m not sure we’ve seen much authentic Thai culture so far. After a long flight (and some dodgy 4am curries as plane food) we arrived in Bangkok and headed to our hostel in backpacker area Khao San Road. Think McDonalds, Irish Bars, Shisha, cheap drinks, drunk tourists and late nights….

Khao San Road by day

 First stop for us was to experience a brutal Thai massage to try and help our jetlag. It was definitely not the relaxing spa experience you get with massages in England, but made us feel a little bit more refreshed afterwards. An afternoon of napping led up to our first night out in Khao San, chatting to other ETAs and drinking the local Chang beer.

 Some of the ETAs in Khao San Road

Ruth, Me, Helen

We spent the next few days seeing some of the tourist attractions in Bangkok; the Grand Palace which was pretty but very busy, and a long tailed boat trip which took us down the canals.

 Grand Palace

 Grand Palace

 

 View from Long Tail Boat

 View from Long Tail Boat

 Saturday night was spent celebrating the birthday of another ETA in Sky Bar, the roof terrace of a luxury hotel. We took the lift to the 64^th floor and sipped on our 500 baht cocktails (so expensive for Thailand!!) looking over a magical view of the city, imagining we were VIPs and had enough money to stay there. Then, being the students that we are, we went to the other extreme: another night out in Khao San road, and ended up chilling on the hostel roof terrace at 6 am. Jet lag and lack of sleep are definitely catching up on me!

View from Sky Bar - Camera definitely did not to it justice

At Sky Bar - Jade, Ruth, Helen and Birthday Boy Tom

Today we met our mentors from school, and tomorrow is the long journey to Si Saket province…Our time in Bangkok is coming to an end.

Quick Intro

Sà-wàt-dee!

My name's Caroline and I am a student at the University of Winchester, where I am training to be a primary school teacher. I have been given the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant in Thailand for two months this summer (who would say no!?) and have just arrived in the country!

Here are some of the things I want to achieve while over here:

• Build friendships with Thai locals and the ETAs working out in Thailand so that I can enjoy my time in Thailand to the max
• Be adventurous! Try foods I haven't had before, explore the areas I am staying in and generally do things I don't have the opportunity to do at home
• Learn more about myself as a teacher, and how I can use the experience working in a Thai school to improve my classroom practice back in the UK
• Engage the students in lessons by providing interactive and enjoyable opportunities for learning
• Learn some Thai!
• Travel around the country - ideally visit an island/waterfall/jungle/ride an elephant/experience night life in Bangkok

Will post in a few days how I am settling in and what have been up to!

Thanks to the University of Winchester, British Council, Thai Ministry of Education, Property Care Services PCS and DLA Piper for the opportunity!