By the light of a flash light and other adventures

I'm in Ko Chang right now and we have been here for about 2 days now. We left from Pattaya at about 8 in the morning and arrived in the afternoon after a long day of traveling. We were whisked away from the bus station to the ferry and from the pier on Ko Chang we jumped into bus bound for somewhere. We ended up reaching a fabulous resort, KB Resorts, right on the beach. We have a fantastic little bungalow and are in a perfect location. It's a bit more expensive than we were planning, but it's worth every baht. We have been worried that it would be rainy while we were here but today was a beautiful day and we spent all day in the sun. My legs and arms can attest to that as I got a bit burned. Yesterday morning we kayaked from shore to several islands of the coast and enjoyed that. It was a strenuous paddle, but was beautiful. We ended up at on a beach with a nice calm cove and stayed there for a bit and relaxed before the last crossing back to the beach. We were a bit worried about the current coming back as the winds were strong and the current seemed to be strong as well, but after asking a boat pilot we met on one of the islands we decided that all was well and made the crossing. Upon reaching another island, we realized that some water had penetrated my ziplock bag and had gotten several things wet. So, we dried that out and attempted to make do. My camera made it through okay, but my phone didn't. On the beach I saw that water had gotten inside and had condensed on the screen-not a good thing-but at that moment it seemed to still work. After we got back I opened it up to dry it out and noticed that it wasn't reading the sim card - not good. I thought that the phone was okay and it was the sim card that had been damaged and was really worried because I'd have lost all my phone numbers and text messages - something that would have been survivable, but no fun. It turns out that the sim card is okay and it's the phone that's shot. I've been thinking about getting a new phone, so in the end, I did and am only out 3,500 baht and have a new phone. So, it could have been worse. After dealing with the phone we showered and rented a motorbike to drive around the island. We headed up the coast and stopped at a restaurant along side the road. It was just us at this little restaurant and we ordered food and fruit shakes from the lady and ate. After she had finished cooking, she sat down and started to talk to us. It was great to chat with her. She moved to Ko Chang about 5 years ago from a province in Isan (northeastern Thailand) and runs this restaurant. I asked her about the changes over the last few years and she attested to the changes alluded to in the guide books about the rapid development of the island and the ever increasing influx of tourists every year. She talked of forests coming down and guest houses rising, but also of a greater income than she has had before because of the foreign tourists. She also talked about the slow and high seasons and how in a few weeks more and more tourists will come as the rainy season comes to an end. It was a fantastic conversation and we exchanged bits and pieces. I talked about my experiences here and teaching and she talked about her family (she has two sons; one drives a bus from her home town to BKK and the other has a farm). We talked about whether or not I had a Thai girlfriend yet or not and if I wanted one. As with most every other Thai, she was very curious to know about my relationship status and many jokes were made. A friend of hers came to the restaurant and told me that she didn't have a boyfriend and asked if I wanted to be hers (I'm assuming she was joking...). It was just wonderful to have that conversation and to be able to communicate like that. I still surprise myself sometimes at how much Thai I do know and how much I can communicate with others. It's moments like that which help to erase the moments where I wasn't able to communicate or struggled - we really had a conversation. After lunch, we continued on around the island and ended up at the entrance to a trail in the national park. I spook Thai to the women working the gate and she immediately asked me if I worked in Thailand and told me that I could enter in the national park for the Thai price (20 baht). Peter, a foreign tourist, would have to pay 400 baht. It's crazy how that works, and I'm glad I can take advantage of the Thai price (it doesn't always happen like this - getting this rate was easy. I tried to get a similar deal at the Grand Palace in Bangkok but to no avail). We decided that we didn't have enough time to do that and continued on to another waterfall further down the island that was free. We got there and hiked a bit in, but it started to get dark before we got there. The island has some very neat roads and are very steep in some places. We had made it there find, but it appeared that some o f the hills coming back would be very steep. We attempted these hills and we were almost flung back down the hill (figuratively). The first hill was a challenge and our bike stalled half way up. So, we turned the bike perpendicular to the hill, started it again and continued up in first gear. The bike worked hard, we thought of fluffy cotton and other light objects and we made it. We certainly put on a show for the others on the road and while you may be thinking this is one of those moments where, at the time, it's not funny but in hindsight it is. In reality it was a moment that was as hilarious then as it is now. We were laughing our way up that hill as well. On our way back, as it got dark, I (as most people would) turned on the headlight on the bike. Unfortunately nothing happened - it was getting dark and we had no head lamp. After discovering this, I did the prudent thing and pulled into the next motorcycle repair shop and asked them to change the light (assuming it was a burned out bulb). Upon closer examination, they realized that the whole light assembly needed to be replaced. Now, keep in mind this is a rental and I'm in Thailand - that combination does not work in the renters favor if something breaks while renting. So, instead of spending the money (almost 3 times what is cost to rent the bike for one day) we went to 7/11 and bought a flashlight. So, by the light of our blinker and the light of a 55 baht ($1.15) flashlight we found our way home (about 10 km). It was a slow but exciting ride. It was one of the few times in my life when I found myself thankful for development and the light pollution that exists in cities as it made driving without a headlight much easier.

Today was a much less eventful day. It was the first day that really felt like vacation and I enjoyed simply laying on the beach and relaxing. After a lazy morning and a phone call home, we decided to start our day by driving into the next town, White Sands, and go shopping. There were a few gifts Peter wanted to pick up, so we did that and returned from where we can the night before (the drive during the day is much easier with light). A quick shopping trip and a short hike to a waterfall rounded out the morning and we headed back to put on our swimming suits and lay on the beach. After looking forward to jumping in the ocean (it was another beautiful morning), right as we walk out our door it starts to rain. All we can do is look at each other in disbelief. But, luckily for us after about 30 minutes the rain let up and we were rewarded with yet another beautiful afternoon. As the sun began to set, Peter headed back to the bungalow for a surprise and returns with two bottles of Sunshine beer, one of my favorite beers bottled in Colorado by the New Belgium Brewing Company. I was delighted to have one and we spent the next half hour sipping our beers (which tasted amazing by the way) and watching the sun set.

And thus that wraps up our time in Ko Change. We are planning to leave tomorrow afternoon after another relaxing morning and head to Ayudhaya (an old capital of Siam).

Hope all is well,

RM

If you can't find a restaurant what do you do? Our Story

Okay, so to continue with the adventures as of late I'll finish writing about our last day in Bangkok. Our last day was relatively relaxing and laid back compared to the first few. We spent the early part of the morning at an internet cafe writing emails before heading down to the pier to catch the river taxi. This morning, we took to taxis - one down river and one across the river. We ended at Wat Arun. This temple is famous in part because it is the temple featured on the back of the 10 baht coin (it is also right across the river from the Grand Palace and Wat Phrat Keaw). This was my favorite temple in Bangkok. It's location right next to the river and the peaceful nature of the temple combined were amazing. Standing on the corner of the center chedi looking out across the Chao Phraya river at the Grand Palace was incredible. The simplicity of the temple was complemented by the magnificence and significance of its location. I enjoyed every minute of my time there. After the temple, we walked around the neighborhood surrounding the temple and purchased Peter a yellow shirt. As I've written before, this is the King's 60th year on the throne and there has been a jubilee celebration all year and many Thai's can be seen wearing their yellow shirts. This year also marks the King's 80th birthday which will usher in another wave of yellow shirts sporting the logo/icon celebrating the King's birthday. I can't wait until December 5 (the King's birthday) to be a part of that celebration. Afterwards we had lunch and headed home for a quick nap and then that's when the fun started. We had decided to go to Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant in Bangkok that supports a non-profit that works in many different communities across Thailand. We made a 5:00 reservation and set out from the guest house at about 4:00 thinking we had plenty of time to get there. Our journey would include a trip on the river taxi and sky train followed by (what we thought would be) a short walk. The river taxi took longer than expected and we made it to sky train closet to the restaurant at about 5:15. No problem we thought, we'll only be a few minutes late. Without thinking too much about which direction to go (and because of the absence of street signs) we took off to the right. After walking for about 10 minutes, we realized that we were going the wrong way. We should have gone left. So, we turned around and walked back from where we came crossing the street and walking 10 minutes in the opposite direction only to again realize that we were going the wrong way. This time, after taking the time to look for street signs we decided that we turned around a bit early and would head back the other way (the way we initially went) but walk further this time, which we did. Now, after doing this and walking for yet another 30 minutes, we come to the most embarrassing realization that we are on the wrong road - not surprising given that we had already gone both directions and hadn't found the restaurant. It was a very "I can't believe we just spent an hour doing that" moment and we vowed to kick ourselves for that. So, we headed back to where we began. On our walk back we were rewarded with a great view of the sunset over Bangkok as we walked along a very large park in the center of town. After once again reaching our starting point we turned up the road hoping that this was the direction that we were supposed to head. But yet again we were disappointed and turned around once again. At this point with no other directions to go, we confidently (yet now at a bit slower pace after having walked for quite a long time) walked towards the restaurant which we found a few minutes later. We sat down to enjoy our meal at about 7:30 or 3 1/2 hours after we left our guesthouse. We took a taxi home.

The following day we met several folks from the English Camp early in the morning and began thus began our adventures at English Camp. There is much to tell about English Camp and all will eventually be told, but I'm tired and will sign off now. I am going to skip ahead though and post the happens after English Camp before I get to talking about the camp.

Without end,

RM

Neon Lights, White Elephants and Mother Water

Last I wrote, Peter had just arrived and we were just beginning our adventures together in Thailand. As of now, we have indeed had many and I'm going to attempt to write about a few of them here. Peter arrived very late at night and so his first night was filled with a taxi ride from the new airport and he was introduced to Thailand under the neon lights of Khao San Road. Khao San Road, the infamous backpacker/foreign local in Bangkok, is abuzz with activity at all hours of the day and during the night the neon lights flicker on, the stereos are turned up and the street vendors hit the ground running. It's quite the scene and it very different from the Thailand that I have grown used to over the past several months (there is nothing quite like that in Lampang). It's an interesting place and a mixing pot of many cultures. It's not Thailand, but there's no place in the world quite like it. We had a guest house of Khao San and were able to escape most of the noise and neon lights and get a peaceful nights sleep. The next morning we awoke early as Peter was still on L.A time and we hit the streets looking for some food. While we were planning to catch the Grand Palace and Wat Phrat Keaw that day, we ended up going to several different smaller Buddhist temples. Each had it's own special charm. One had the Lucky Buddha, another the Standing Buddha and yet another the Marble Buddha (this Buddha isn't actually marble, but is housed in a marble temple). We strolled around town and found our way to the outskirts of the King's Residence - a massive complex near the center of town. Near to that was the Royal White Elephant museum and the Royal Golden Teak Mansion, both of which proved to be interesting. In Thailand, the white elephant is connected to royalty and every white elephant found in the property of the King. The museum documented the different royal elephants and talked about the history of royal elephants. The museum is actually housed in the old royal elephant stables. We made our way to the Chao Phraya River, the river running through the center of Bangkok and the most famous river in Thailand and took the Chao Phraya River Express (a river taxi back) towards our guest house. It's said that all of the rivers in Thailand (or at least the largest; the Wang, the Ping, the Yom, and the Nan rivers) all flow into this river. Many of the royal celebrations take place both on land and on water and it's interesting the role that water (specifically rivers) have played in Thai history. It's something that has fascinated me and something I want to continue to studied. Added to that, after having lived in Chiang Mai and Lampang, both of which have a river running through the middle of town, this river culture seems pertinent to my experience in Thailand. Another interesting tidbit; the word for river in Thai (mae nam) is literally translated as "mother water". Dinner and a stroll in the rain and that was our first day in Bangkok.

Our second day was as adventurous, but much easier to describe concisely. We went to the Royal Palace (the former residence of the King of Thailand) and the adjacent temple, Wat Phrat Keaw. Both are incredibly ornate and beautiful filled with objects unique to Thailand. They are those sites that one must go see if you travel to Thailand, and are amazing cultural, architectural and historical wonders, but aren't much to write home about. Another temple close to the Grand Palace is Wat Pho, a beautiful temple in it's own right, but add to it the ornate and intricate gardens and the larger than life reclining Buddha with intricate mother of pearl inlay on it's feet, it became my second favorite temple in Bangkok, second only to a temple that we would visit the next day. After seeing the temples and eating lunch we headed down river again toward Siam Paragon, Bangkok's newest and most posh mall. We got off the river taxi and caught the Sky Train (another Bangkok specialty) to the mall. The Sky Train was an experience in itself. Riding on elevated tracks above the city, you essentially have a birds eye view of Bangkok while you ride. We were so impressed we talked coming back just to ride the Sky Train. Now, Siam Paragon was interesting. It was a state of the art, modern mall with all the amenities and all the globally recognized retailers. Just like many of our airports nowadays, we could have been any where in the world. We wandered around for a bit browsing in the stores before heading to meet Peck and the other staff in order to prepare for the English Camp. We met at Pizza Company and chatted while going over the schedule. At the meeting I met several of Peck's colleagues and friends many of whom I was able to get to know over the next few days at the camp. It was good to chat with them and I was glad to finally get some details about the camp. After our meeting, Peck decided to take Peter and I around the city to a few places. Out first stop was the Red Light District in Bangkok. Peter and I had not particular interest in seeing this part of town, but at Peck's insistence (saying that it's part of town and it's something we had to see), we saw it. It was neat to see and walk though and experience. We then headed to a night bazaar to shop and then to a beer garden to have a beer. We didn't just have any beer though, we had Peck's favorite European beer (whose name I can't remember). It was a taste acquired by Peck while he studied in Norway during university. We had a fantastic conversation about politics, economics, Thailand etc (which I'm sure was aided by the beer) and then made it home. All in all, a fanstastic day 2.

I'm beat now and will call it a night, but there is still so much more to write about. So, I'll try to make it back here tomorrow and write more (that's weather dependent...If there's rain, there will be writing; if there's sun, there will be playing).

Until next time,

RM

The perks of teaching and a brand new airport.

I'm am now enjoying one of the perks of teaching - vacation! I've officially finished the first semester and am now on semester break for 3 weeks before going back to start the second semester. The end of the semester was very anti-climatic teaching wise - I created tests, they took them, I graded them and that was the end of it. Besides having to navigate the Thai grading system (which involved conversions, transformations and grades for responsibility, diligence, honesty and disciple), they past two weeks were easy ( a stark contrast to the last two weeks of school as a student and, I'm assuming, a teacher in the US). My students did well on the finals and I was pleasantly surprised by several students performance on the test. As the semester wound to an end, I did begin to look ahead to next semester and am excited to teach and am looking forward to many of the topics as well as being able to experiment more with teaching as I have a semester of "practice" under my belt. I'm sure it'll be just as challenging, but I hope the challenges will be less of a reaction to not knowing what I'm doing and more of an ongoing effort to create a more stimulating and interesting learning environment. Nevertheless, despite having been here for three months, there are moments when I still don't know what the world is going on (and I don't think that'll change). But that's why it's exciting.

On a related note, this past week I've started to work with Project Citizen Thailand. Project Citizen is a program that I worked with at DU helping local schools develop public policy proposals and educate students about policy issues and the ways to change those policies. And as it turns out there is a Project Citizen Thailand. Bunyawat actually won first place in the northern region Project Citizen Showcase and are now going to compete in Bangkok in November. That's were I come in. Previously, all of the competition was in Thai, now they must present in Thai and English so I was drafted as an English coach a few days ago. I spent Monday and Tuesday working with them and will continue once I get back and it looks like I may come back to Bangkok with them for the competition (which would be awesome). Their policy is really neat and deals with the issue of deforestation in Thailand and it's impact, particularly on flooding since that has been a huge issue in the north (Lampang was flooded several times last year, one inundating a large part of town under several meters of water).

I'm currently in Bangkok and am planning on spending the next several weeks traveling with Peter Reding who arrived last night. I took the train from Lampang to BKK overnight on Tuesday and arrived early Monday morning and spent the day resting and relaxing before making the trek out to the brand new airport 50 km from town! The opening of this airport has been huge (it opened 1 week ago today) and long awaited. It was one of the central publicity pieces of the ousted prime minister, but now is the subject of much criticism in design flaws and corruption, but despite all that it is a source of national pride. Over the past week about 200,00 people have gone through the airport and only 90,000 were arriving or departing by plane - the rest were tourists simply coming to see the new airport. It's insane. I made it out there at 11:00 pm and met Peter in the brand new airport. I do have to admit it was neat to know that I was one of the first million of so people to come through that airport and be there within a week of it's opening. But I did come with a purpose. Peter and I will be in Bangkok until Sunday when we'll take of for the English Camp in Pattaya.

Take care.

RM

Updates and News

At the moment, my students are taking their final exams. They have about 11 exams to take over the next few days and I'm not jealous. Right now it is much better to be the teacher than the student. I finished creating my exams for the first semester and will see how the students do when they take them on Wednesday and Thursday. It was interesting to look back at the past few months and review what I had taught and compare that to what I should have taught and there are definitely things to do differently next time. It was also hard to work around my not being here the first month of classes. That added to the confusion and I know I missed a few lessons here and there because of that. I'm excited for next semester to see what happens when I have the whole semester. I will hopefully be done soon and on October 4 will go to Bangkok to meet Peter.

This weekend I traveled to Chiang Mai to visit my host family. It was wonderful to see my host brother and meet some of his friends. I met him on Saturday and I spent the afternoon with him and his friends at the mall and later we went to go see a movie. It is his first year at university and he has changed a lot since last year. He is much more independent know and I really enjoyed spending time with him. We did make it back to the house for dinner and as usual this reunion dinners was just as much fun as the others. And again they asked me if I had a girlfriend (it seems they are more interested in that than anything) and don't seem to believe me when I tell them no.

The most beautiful resort

I thought I would quickly write about my weekend trip to the resort. The trip was a blast. The resort was incredibly beautiful and it was very relaxing. The resort consisted of amazing wood houses and incredible landscaping and wonderful meals. We spent the weekend as guests of the owner and were treated incredibly well. We ate, relaxed, went to the national park for a dip in the hot springs, rode bikes, played in the river, watched movies, ate some more and really enjoyed ourselves. Throughout the weekend, I was able to chat with the owner and his son and was able to get a grasp of their vision for the resort. The son, Jo, has studied tourism and natural resource management and is very interested in creating a eco-tourist destination here (which I loved to hear). His father studied landscaping at a university neat Chiang Mai and is incredibly knowledgeable about the plants and flowers throughout the north and made a great hiking companion. The rumor that there was going to be "lao khao" at the resort was in fact true and we all took part in this Thai tradition ("lao khao" is rice whiskey). Anyway, see below for pictures. The first is a picture of the people who came up to the resort. On the left is Da (my friend who just got the job), Adam (an English teacher from Ireland), Leah (an English teacher from Canada), Khun Jo (the son of the owner) and Chris (an English teacher from Canada). The second picture is a picture of the guest house. The third picture is of the Lahu (a ethnic minority in northern Thailand) dance that the resort arranged. The fourth is a picture of the resort and the last picture is of Da and Adam (note the plate of bamboo worms...they are AMAZING). Speaking of food, that weekend we also ate steamed bee hive (bees included) and fried crickets (both of which were delicious).

RM

Coup in Thailand

Hello Friends,

As some of you may have already heard, there was a peaceful military coup in Thailand yesterday. At around 10 PM on September 19, the military entered Bangkok and took control of the key government buildings. There was no resistance. As of the morning of September 20, the leaders of the coup, who call themselves the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), had taken control of the government. At that point they declared the 1997 constitution abrogated and dissolved Parliament and the Constitutional Court. They also declared a national holiday and closed all of the government buildings, the schools and the banks. All the schools have been re-opened today. There has not been any violence associated with the coup and life here is no different than normal. The leaders of the coup have been very adamant about their intentions and say that power will be returned to the people as soon as possible. The military will remain in power for two weeks as an appointment for Prime Minister is chosen and a Parliament created. Over the next six months to a year, a new constitution will be created and once that is completed elections will be held. The CDR has also declared loyalty to the King of Thailand, who is very revered, and all of the soldiers in Bangkok had wrapped yellow ribbons (the color of the monarchy) around their guns and the tanks. This morning, the King endorsed General Sonthi which is a sign that the peacefulness of the coup will continue. The CRD claimed that the coup was necessary to put an end to corruption, national divisions, and the undermining of independent agencies and the monarchy under Thaksin's rule.

The coup is led by the heads of the army, navy, air force and the police commander. The general leading the coup, General Sonthi, is close to the King of Thailand and has been endorsed by the King as the leader of the coup. It appears as though the coup was successful in taken control of the government. Military coups have been common in Thailand. There have been 17 coups since 1932, when a group of army officers and government officials overthrew the absolute monarchy and installed a democratic system under a constitutional monarchy. The last coup took place in 1991.

The former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was in the US at the time of the coup and is now in London. The coup comes after months of escalating political conflicts between the government and the military and between pro-Thaksin supporters and anti-Thaksin protestors. The prime minister had been increasingly seen as very divisive and had been criticized on numerous fronts from corruption to mismanagement of the government and had been widely seen as critical of the King.

Most of the criticism began after Thaksin sold off his share in Shin Corp, Thailand's largest telecommunications conglomerate, to Temasek Holding of Singapore in January. This earned Thaksin and his family $1.9 billion in tax-free gains, many claim through a manipulation of the system (Thaksin pushed though telecommunications legislation three days before the sale). Amide the growing protests and in an effort to regain legitimacy, Thaksin dissolved parliament in February and forced an election in April. Thailand's three main opposition parties boycotted the April 2 electron, which Thaksin's won. The results, however, were annulled by the constitutional court in May. Most recently, the three Election Commission officials were imprisoned on charges of corruption and bias. Another election was scheduled to be held in mid-October.

There is a lot more to be told and much more to the back story and the events leading up to this, but I think this is a good synopsis of events. Rest assured everything is fine and there is no need to worry.

Also, I have been reading some of the coverage by CNN and BBC and find that it is often times presenting a different perspective on the recent happenings here and are misleading. The coup, while not an ideal method for eliminating a corrupt leader and restoring democracy, is attempting to create a positive change in Thailand. The corruption, the divisiveness, the mishandling of the conflicts in the south of Thailand amongst other actions has been created a Thailand that is much less democratic than the 1997 constitution and the King envisioned. There is a feeling of hope among many people I have talked to that this will create a situation where democracy under the constitutional monarchy can be achieved. Polls released by the Bangkok Pose support this and say that roughly 80% of people in Thailand support the coup and the changes they wish to bring about.

I'll try to keep you updated as things change.

RM

Ahh! Confusing Finals

My head hurts! Today was a very confusing day as I tried to wrap my head around all of the different things I need to do to get ready for finals. I was told several different things about what is expected of me and what I need to test and still have not gotten a definite answer. I also just found out that I was supposed to have been teaching a foundations class and an intensive class (which focus on different things) for each level. I, of course, haven't been doing that since I had no idea that I was supposed to. Now, it looks like I have to create six different tests for my three classes which effectively doubles my work load. My students now have to take three science tests (two in English and one in Thai) which seems ridiculous to me. I was going to work on creating my exams tonight but in lieu of the ongoing confusion I am putting that off for a day or two until I can sort things out. My goodness...

RM

Fun with fire!

Here are a few pictures from an experiment I did with my M2 class last week. We are learning about calories, food and nutrition and so we did an experiment to determine the amount of energy in cereal and cashews (to compare the energy in carbohydrates versus fats). It was a blast! The kids loved lighting the cereal and nuts on fire and watching them burn. It was great to see their reaction as they saw the difference between the cereal and the nut. Enjoy!

A friend with connections!

Just a quick note before I head out for the weekend...One of my Thai friends here just got a job at a "resort" near Jae Son National Park (about 1 hour from Lampang). The "resort" just opening this year and consists of a bunch of bamboo bungalows in the woods near the national park. As part of the incentive package (and as a way for them to test out the new facilities), her boss invited her to bring her friends up to the resort for the weekend. So in about 2 hours a car will pick us up and drive us up there to spend the weekend as guests of the resort. I'm told there will be hiking, a ticklish tree, Macadamia nuts amongst other things (not to mention the homemade vodka). I will be sure to write once I return. Hope all is well.

RM

Bamboo Rafting and Private Classes

Life has been normal for the past two weeks and often times I do have to remind myself that I am in Thailand. My life has taken on a nice routine and I'm very comfortable living and working here that it's hard to believe I'm in a foreign country, halfway around the world from where I grew up. The development of a "routine" has been nice and I'm definitely filling my time well. Unlike when I first arrived, having an abundance of time is no longer a problem. My afternoons and evenings are filled with students, dinner, friends, practicing the guitar and impromptu Thai lessons. Speaking of Thai, I have noticed that over the past several months my listening, reading and writing have gotten better while it seems my speaking ability has remained unchanged. My guess is this has to do with me speaking English and listening to students speak Thai all day.

I have started to teach private/extra classes to several of my students and really enjoy them. It is a great chance to chat with them one-on-one and really start to talk. I have developed relationships with the students, but it is nice to have time dedicated to this small group where we can all get to know each other better. I have been teaching them for about two weeks and we are really covering a wide spectrum of topics. I told them that I would teach them anything they wanted. They first said science and English. Gradually, they took the idea further and have claimed to want me to teach them to dance, to speak Thai amongst other things. I may have to re-think my "I'll teach you anything" statement. More importantly, during these classes we have been able to ask questions about each other and learn about the other culture. Yesterday we spend a bit of time talking about school uniforms. We talked about the different uniforms in Thailand and how the uniforms are different for primary and secondary school. We talked about how there are no uniforms in the US and which is better.

I have also (I believe) secured another position teaching English after school. My music school (where I am learning guitar) is opening a language school as well and they asked me if I wanted to come to teach there twice a week. I said sure and according to the "plan", I'll start teaching once my semester break is finished.

Speaking of semester breaks, I have only two weeks left before the end of the semester. Next week will be the final week of classes and then the following week will be filled with final exams and then I'm finished with half the school year. I remember always complaining about how teachers would cram material into the last few weeks of school and now understand how it happens. It seemed to jump from having six weeks left to only having two.

I am excited for the break. I have a good friend coming out to visit over my break (Peter Reding for those who wanted to know...And now Peter is famous!) and we are going to travel around Thailand together. Right now the plan is to have no plan and figure it out as we go. I am meeting him in Bangkok and then we are going to move on from there. This trip to Bangkok will be my first trip into the city. I have been in the airport at least a half-dozen times, but I have never left. It shocks most people.

And the last story, I went bamboo rafting last weekend and that marked my second trip to do just that. I returned to the same spot as before, so for those of you who joined me last time you know what I'm talking about. It was much more exciting the first time and you have no idea how you are going to navigate this river with nothing more than a large pole. Then you see the first rapids and think there is no way this is possible. That unknowingness was absent the second time around, but nonetheless it proved to be an enjoyable outing. I went rafting with many of the students who are now studying in Thailand with the school that I studied with. It was good to meet them and talk to them about their experiences so far and try to share a few nuggets of wisdom. I tried not to share too much since most of the really meaningful knowledge came from self-discovery. It was a wonderful trip back in time and was great to meet them.

Well, I should actually work seeing as I am at work, so I will end this update and hope that satisfies you until next time.

RM

Pictures from Phrae (including the parade!)

Hello!
I have decided to post some pictures so here they are. First, here are some of the pictures from my trip to Phrae. These two pictures are pictures from the parade. The one below is the beginning of the parade and the one to the left it the end of the parade. People walked by for more than 45 minutes all dressed in their yellow or blue shirts. It was quite the spectacle.



The next set of pictures are also from Phrae but these are of the town, specifically several of the Buddhist temples that I came across in my wanders around the city. As you can tell, this is an absolutly beautiful city.


























The next set of pictures are from a side trip from Phrae to Prae Mueang Pi (Ghost Village in the Forest). It is a park of sorts that consists of these formations made from the wind and water eroding the soil and leaving behing these shapes.

Change in Perspective

I recently wrote an email to several friends and family and mentioned to them that I have recently updated by Office software. In doing do so I stumbled upon a realization that I thought I would share. So here is the snippet from that email: "First things first, I just updated to Office 2003 and am realizing that everything is blue and am getting used to that. It looks so fancy and modern compared to my Office XP and it is this type of change that is scary and daunting. Moving to a foreign country and all that goes with that is good change and easily conquered. Having to change how your word processing and email programs looks -– insurmountable. I almost removed them this afternoon when I thought I couldn'’t bear it any more. It'’s just so BLUE! But slowly and surly I am getting used to it and will soon grow to love them as much as the other. I have to let go and embrace the changes. Sure as hell puts things into perspective."

The has been a lot going on recently and I haven't updated the blog in a while so I thought that I would add a few comments about the recent happenings. One big thing that happened was I reached the 1 year anniversary of my first arrival in Thailand. It is hard to think that one year ago I was arriving in Thailand for the first time. It is hard to think that a whole year has gone by since then; it doesn'’t seem that long ago. But then again, so much has happened since then that I canno’t believe that all has happened in just one year. It has been neat because it has stirred up memories of my first few days in Thailand arriving from China, getting picked up, meeting my host family, learning a new language and a new city etc. I did head to Chiang Mai this weekend and was able to meet a few of the new students. I had met the students from DU in the spring (and haven't seen them yet), but was able to meet a few students from Kalamazoo. It was really interesting to watch the and see them trying to learn Thai, getting over jet lag and getting to know their host families. It is an interesting position to be in - to be able to see someone else going through what you went through.

As for school, teaching has become easier. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not, but I'’m creating my lessons in less time and am not as stressed out. I've become more comfortable in class and more comfortable understanding the mood of the class and determining if they are paying attention and on task or are uninterested and bored. I'’m still trying to increase their engagement during class and not lecture as much. But it'’s difficult given the subject material and resource constraints. I find that the later is much more difficult to overcome than any other obstacle. I simply do not have access to materials that would make learning much more interactive. I have noticed a bit of technological dependence on my part; I need things that are available in the US and are technological.

I'm starting to bridge the cultural divide and am very happy to be doing so. I do have thoughts about how I'm changing their culture to suit my needs and expectations and am not sure if that is true or how much credence I should put into those thoughts, but nonetheless they are there. In a sense, I'’m changing the perception of educators.

I gave a test in my M2 class recently and as of late I'’m really enjoying this class (they are the students I have struggled with). We seem to have reached an understanding of sorts and we can read each other better now. I know when they are getting tired and need a break and they can sense when I have stuff to cover or when I have a more relaxed lesson. They are also starting to ask questions in class which is good and I'’m sure that is helping them understand better. I held a review on Sunday at the school in the afternoon if students had questions and about 15 showed up. It was neat to see them outside the class when we could be more friendly. But we did review and go over material and I really enjoyed that. It was very relaxed - they did their own thing and asked questions if they had them. I then went home and was running some errands and ran into a group of them going to study and said they were struggling and asked me to come and help them study a bit more, so I did and enjoyed that. We just went to a little coffee shop and reviewed and what not.

As my relationship with my M2 students gets better, my M3 students are now becoming more challenging. We have been working on a circuit lab and they have been very unfocused. Maybe it's the weather (it has been rainy and damp) or maybe it's me or them, either way they are now becoming my challenging class.

I have a little over a month before the end of the semester before I need to start reviewing so time is flying.

Bunyawat's Website

Hey all,
Well, they finally updated the website for the English Program here and I thought you might want to check it out. It's got some great pictures of the students and the school and tells a bit more about the program.

So if you have a second, check it out http://www.bwc.ac.th/ep/intro.html

RM

It's the Rainy Season!!!

It's been the rainy season ever since I arrived and there has been quite a bit of rain (especially compared to what I'm used to in Colorado) but it really hasn't interfered much with my life. Meaning, when it rains, I'm at school or it's later at night. I've been caught in the rain once, but I was coming home and just enjoyed walking in the rain. Well, this morning my luck ran out. I woke up and it was dreary and raining. It wasn't raining really hard; I would be wet when I got to school, but would dry quickly. I jumped into the shower and while I was showing the sound of rain pounding the roof got louder and louder. After my shower, I looked out the window and sure enough it was pouring. It was coming down in sheets. And I had to get to school and be presentable in my shirt and tie. People have told me about non-event feedback, where until something bad happens you continue to act as you have. Well, my luck with rain had not yet compelled me to buy a rain poncho, so here I was, ready to go to school and I had no protection from the rain. So what did I do you ask? I hopped on my motorcycle with my jacket on and road as fast as I could to school. One problem though - on the way to school there is a stop light and it was red. As I slowed down to a stop I put my foot on the ground to stabilize the bike and my foot went ankle deep into the water flowing down the street. By the time I got to school (only a 2-3 minute bike ride from my apartment) I was drenched. Luckily, I didn't have class until the afternoon and dried off by then but spent to morning soaking wet and soggy sitting at my desk. What fun!

Farang On Parade!!!

The title of this post is quite accurate as I do believe I was on parade this weekend. It's not what you might think and there is quite a story behind this little adventure. It all started on Thursday of last week. Thursday was a hellish day and for whatever reason, the day seemed to last forever. My head was in a fog and I was beat. I made it home (finally) and watched a movie, preparing for the weekend. But sure enough Friday came and with a rude awakening, I, while mentally prepared for a weekend had to go to school. Friday was long and tiresome as well. Fortunately Friday afternoon came and I left. After a run and a bite of dinner I was feeling refreshed and settled in for a very slow night of reading, writing and movies. Waking up in the morning, I was ready for the day and excited for my second guitar lesson. A quick phone call home and an even quicker shower and I headed off to the post office to drop off some letters. This is another story, which, of course I'll tell now. I've been trying to mail letters home for about 2 weeks now, but have gone to the post office five minutes after closing twice! I managed to do that again on Saturday, but it wasn't my fault. The post office had different hours since it was the Queen's Birthday weekend. Anyway, I made it to my guitar lesson and started playing. I'm learning classical guitar so we are starting with the basics and will work our way up to chords. I'm enjoying that and it's all in Thai, so it's helping with my language skills as well. Finally, more to the point, I go to the bus station (it'll all make sense soon) and I buy a bus ticket to Phrae. Phrae is about 2 hours from Lampang and is an absolutely beautiful city. I really had no idea what I was going to do there, but I had a long weekend (we had Monday off in honor of the Queen's Birthday) and had no plans. So, I quickly ran home, threw a few things in a bag and headed to catch my bus. With only moments to spare I climbed aboard and my tardiness was rewarded with a stellar position standing in the aisle. The ride was uneventful. Arriving in Phrae, I meander through town trying to find a place to stay. And do, at the Paradorn Hotel - their main advertisement was "absolutely clean" so I thought I'd check them out. Settled in, I headed out. Deciding to ditch the guide book for a good old fashioned wandering I headed towards the old city. Phrae, like many cities, is divided into an old and new city. The older city in this case is about 700 years old and was once surrounded by earthen walls. Those wall, or their remnants, still stand circling the city. Also seeing as Phrae was once the teak capital of Thailand (before the national logging ban on teak in 1989), there are many old and beautiful teak houses scattered through the old city. A walk around the inside of the wall is full of surprises as old houses, forests, beautiful temples and stupas are found scattered around mixed with the more modern houses, shops and, of course, motorcycle repair shops. I was rewarded with numerous views of temples standing out above the houses with their golden-topped stupas shining in the late afternoon sun. It was amazing. I love this town. I made my way back toward the center of the town and encountered a mass of humanity all dressed in yellow and blue (yellow being the color of the King and blue the color of the Queen). They were assembling to march to the stadium for the Mother's Day Parade (the Queen's Birthday is also Mother's Day). So, I found myself a nice spot along side the road and prepared to watch the Parade. The parade started and I found myself wondering why it seemed, I was the only one watching the parade. An hour later, after the whole town walked by, I realized that the whole town was the parade. There were really three parts to the parade; the school marching bands, the pictures of the King and Queen and people. The parade started slowly and as people walked by they would look my direction, but since the parade was just beginning there were still stragglers showing up and walking by. As the parade went on, more and more eyes would shift my way as the people walked on by. Most would simply curiously stare at me, occasionally the girls would wave or say "hello". In my desire to be friendly, I waved and said "hello" back. And that elicited squeals and giggles like you wouldn't imagine. From that point on, all the girls would look my way and any response on my part would send a giggle through the parade complete with squeals. At first it was entertaining and flattering, but as the parade went on (and it went on for about 45 minutes) it got old and I was about ready to leave. I do believe everyone in Phrae walked past me and every girl between the age of 12 and 32 looked and giggled. It was an experience needless to say. I was going to go to the stadium to see what happened there, but had about enough of the giggling and went to dinner. As I was walking around afterwards, the town was empty. There were very few people on the street and it was difficult to find a restaurant to eat dinner at. But I found one, ate and called it a night after a very interesting day. There is more to tell, but I will say farewell for now. Until next time...

The beauty of Science!

I've been doing a few experiments/demonstrations with my classes and finally remembered to take the camera in and take a few pictures. Here we have been learning about separating mixtures and this is the experiment we did about magnetic separation. Ask any of my students and they will tell you that magnetic separation is useful when one of the substances is magnetic and the other is not. Oh yeah, we've got some learning going on.

Weekend Adventures

Okay, I've definitely slowed down the number of blog post, but fear not, they are going to continue. I mentioned that a few weeks ago I met a women at the gym and she said she was going to take a friend and I to her fruit orchard outside of Lampang. Well, she did indeed do that. I met them both at 1:30 last Sunday and we began the 20 minute drive to Mae Tha. As promised, we spent about an hour picking lamyai (a small brown fruit with a white fleshy center; you peel away the brown outside skin and eat). If you look closely you can see the fruit on the trees. I came home with so many that I was taking them to school and giving them to my students to get rid of them. Here are a few pictures from that adventure. The older woman, Teal, is the one who took us and we are accompanied by her son, JoJo. My friend's name is Laura and she teaches English at Bunyawat in the English department. Do note the incredible height differences between me , Teal and her son. I've never felt like a giant...until then.

Pictures with people

Hello!

After posting several pictures, I was asked to include pictures with people in them as opposed to just buildings. I'm here to give you what you want and so, with out further adue, pictures with people. The first picture is a picture of my M1 class (the 7th grade students). I was a mean guy and gave them a test bright and early on a Monday morning, but they were able to handle it. I have started grading, but am hopeful. The second picture was taken right after the test was finished. I'm assuming by the smiles they had forgiven me for all the cruelty I put them through during the test. And as you can see, they are about the cutest students ever. Thai's (and other Asian's) love giving the peace sign, so most of us are sporting it in the picture. In the third you can see what I was teaching today on the board behind me. They are learning the ins and outs of how to separate mixtures. Thrilling, I know. Yeah, so school is going well. Enjoy the pictures. More updates to come.

Steams, random people, flat tires and rain...boy what a night!

Last night I went to check out a gym just outside of town with one of the other teachers. We had heard that is was nice and had a herbal steam room and a pool (in addition to regular workout equipment). So at about 6 we headed over on our motorbikes. The place was great and I enjoyed a nice workout and dip in the pool followed by a good steam. While in the steam room, I met an older man who was a director of another school program who knew the director of my program. He spoke a little English, but most of the conversation was in Thai. This is exactly the conversation I enjoy - he could speak a little English, so if things got confusing we could figure it out - but wanted to speak in Thai and teach me. It was great. And it was all happening in a steamroom, so him in his underwear and me in my bathing suit. Must have made for quite the sight. We talked for about 10 minutes in the steam and then carried the conversation into the gym. Just a really nice guy. Then, on top of that, when I ventured out to meet my friend we encountered a woman who struck up a conversation with us. From that conversation we now have an appointment to meet her on Sunday and she is going to take us to her orchard and to the most famous temple in Lampang. We both are interested in coming back to this gym. Such nice people we have met there.

But the story doesn't end there. As soon as we left the gym and got onto the highway, I noticed that my motorbike had a flat tire. I pulled over the check it out and low and behold it started raining. With no other option than to push the bike back into town, I set off with my friend behind me with her turn signal flashing away trying to let other motorist know we were there. We get to a service station, but all they have is compressed air, so we blow the tire up hoping that it'll last for the last kilometer into town, but it doesn't and I end up pushing the bike all the way back into town. All the while the rain is falling harder and harder and it is now dark. We are thoroughly enjoying this through, part due to the fact that we had both forgotten to bring towels and were wet before it even started raining. We finally arrive at a tire repair place that is open (after several attempts) and are able to get the tire fixed in no time. By this point we are soaked and it's about 9:30 at night. We drove the rest of the way home (about 2 minutes...yeah, I pretty much walked the whole way home), changed and grabed some dinner at the restaurant across the way. The couple who owns the restaurant were very amused by our "adventure" and were more than willing to fix us up a nice hot plate of food. All in all, not a bad night.

Re: Drinking

Okay, so I've now been drinking with my boss and can write about that. So, at 6:00 I met him at my apartment. He came with an old student of his, so there were three of us. We first went to a restaurant near my apartment to, as planed, drink and eat. As soon as we arrived he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and we started drinking whiskey and water (not my favorite, but I can't complain because a) he's my boss and b) he's pouring. We order some food and eat and talk and drink. That's pretty much what we did the rest of the night. We did change restaurants though. He didn't like the food at the first place, so we went to a different restaurant - and drank, ate and talked until 11:30! We went through an entire bottle of whiskey. Not bad for a Wednesday night. Anyway, I did enjoy myself and I do like my director, so no complaints. It's just interesting how the nights events transpired.

Umm...drinking with my boss

Well, in about 4 hours I'm going drinking with my boss. He just asked me what I was doing tonight, I said, "Not much" and then he asked me to come to drinks. He's picking me up at 6. Should be an interesting experience. I'll keep you posted. Over and out.

Pictures and Descriptions of Bunyawat

I'm in a picture posting mood and the internet connection is strong, so I'm uploading 3, that's right 3 pictures right now. They are more pictures of the school to help give you a better idea of where I'm actually spending time. The first picture is of the front of the school, or at least the most visible part of the school. This, of course, is dominated by a picture of the King and adorned with Thai flags (the red, blue and white ones) and the Royal flag (the yellow ones). Below the King is a statue of the founder of the school. The whole front of the school here is very pretty and has wonderful gardens and great shade - it is one of my favorite parts of the school.

The next picture is a picture of the science building. I'm not teaching there, but that is the designated science building. The building I'm in (see the last post) is the International Building, which hosts the English Program and many of the English language classes (as well as the English teacher offices). I get to visit this building often and would love to teach there. It is really pretty and has a great breeze. There is not air-conditioning, so the windows are open. My classrooms have air-conditioning, which is nice, but the breezes and the fresh air would be pleasant as well.

The next picture is of the main office. This is where the director of the school has his office as well as all of the other administrators. Each morning the teachers come here to sign in. The campus is fairly large, but smaller than one would think for a student body of 4,500. It is definitely smaller than DU's campus. They do a good job of cramming 60 students into each classroom during class. The next picture is taken from the top floor of my building overlooking campus. Looking out this first building is the shop building. Every few days there is an incessant banging coming from that building meaning the students are hard at work. The building behind that is the main office building followed by more classrooms. To the right there are also two other classroom buildings.
The next picture looks out to the left. You can see the end of the shop building and the main office building on the right side of the picture. Next to the shop is one of the spirit houses on campus (there are at least two). Off to the left is the science building, the canteen (the cafeteria), the auditorium, the athletic fields and more classrooms. In the distance, you can sort of make out some mountains. Lampang does sit is a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides.

My office...where I'm "working"

Hello!

Here are some more pictures for those of you
who have been asking. The first picture is of the inside of the office. The desk in the lower left corner is mine (notice my backpack on the chair). The director of the program sits in the back at the desk that is a bit lighter gray. The other three teachers sit in the desks to my left. There is a row of three computers along the wall where the other teachers spend most of their time. This office is on the third floor of the building in the second picture. That is the newest building on campus and is home to the English Program. We are in the upper right hand corner of the building on the 3rd and 4th floors. The part that sticks out is the stair well and a common area where students congregate. On the ground floor in the middle of the building is an open area with rows of tables and benches. Students will often gather here to hangout, do homework and other such things that students do. There are students here all hours of the day, everyday of the week. The parking lot in front of the building is where the students congregate in the morning to listen to the national anthem and the school song.

My motorbike!

Here it is folks...at long last...the picture you have all been waiting for. My motorbike! Mom, note the helment in the basket for easy access before riding. Everyone, notice that I am driving a motorbike with a basket on it. That's right, I'm that cool. For those of you who know what my car in CO looks like, note that again, I have opted for the racing stipes along the side. What is it with my vehicles and racing strips? Also note, I am driving the Fresh II, not Fresh I, but the Fresh II. Oh yeah. For those of you visiting at some point, note that there is room for two. Those not planning a visit, you may change your minds after viewing this picture and come just to get a ride. The bike is parked out front of my apartment with the other bikes of those living in the apartments. This is definitley the primary mode of travel for people here. And I love how much I'm spending on gas. The price of gas here is similar to that in the states, about $3 a gallon. I'm using about 1 gallon every 2 weeks so far. That amounts to about $1.50 a week in gas. Can't beat that. I'm working on a picture of me on the bike. I've got to keep your attention somehow.

Crazy kids of mine

My endless toil to connect with my M2 class (the 8th grade class) continues. Today was a joy as I spend to morning with my M1 class (the 7th graders) and the afternoon with the M3 class (the 9th graders). Both were willing to have fun, listen, laugh and learn. My class yesterday with the M2 class was exhausting. I am preparing their test and maybe after the test we can get a fresh start. But I still don't know what I'm teaching once the test is over! My endless battle...at least there is the knowledge that I will have my M1 and M3 classes. They re-charge my batteries.

ET is an alien!

Yesterday I decided to check out an internet and coffee shop near my apartment. I went in and was the only person there. I ordered a banana split (for dessert of course) and sat down to get some work done. About a minute after I ordered, I see the owner/person who took my order leave the shop, cross the street to the fruit market, buy a bunch of (yup you guessed it) bananas and brought them back to make my banana split. I love Thailand.

Oh, and while I was there a pop/electronic song with this chorus was playing..."ET is an alien and he is kind of freaky. Coming from the universe to party and go crazy". I laughed needless to say.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

School in Thailand is...

A few more interesting tidbits about going to school in Thailand. First, students do wear uniforms. They have 3 different uniforms that they were throughout the year (each uniform is worn every three days). Each level (grade 7-9) wears a different uniform. So, each uniform is worn each day, just by a different grade each day. I hope that makes sense. Each morning the students arrive between 7:15 and 8:00 and at 8:00 gather outside of the different buildings in rows. I'm not sure how they are grouped, but each group has about 150 students. At 8:00 exactly, the Thai national anthem is played over the loud speakers at school and all the students sing along. Following that, the Bunyawat Wittahayalai school song is played and again, everyone sings along. The students are then addressed by a person I believe to be a faculty member (the person changes everyday) and then addressed by a student. All in all the morning activities take about 25 minutes and the students are always late to the first class of the day (which starts at 8:20).

Another cultural note, the year marks the 60th anniversary of the current Kings rule. There were huge celebrations all across Thailand in early June celebrating his ascendancy to the throne. Each king has a certain color that corresponds with their rule (this is determined by a monk prior to their ordination). The current king's is yellow. So, every Monday everyone is supposed to wear a yellow shirt (specifically a polo shirt with the royal crest on the chest). Many people want to show their support of the king more than once a week and so people have purchased 4-5 different yellow shirts to wear everyday of the week (or at least more than once). When I visited my host family in Chiang Mai, sure enough they gave me a gift of a yellow shirt to wear which I proudly wore on Monday.

That guy just bought me dinner!

I had a fun run in at dinner last night. I went to dinner last night with two of the teachers in the English department and we met the nicest man. We were sitting very close to his table and were conversing about school, lessons, learning Thai and I was trying to teach them a few Thai words. Throughout the meal he would interject with little phases here and there in English and Thai and was very nice. We ended up chatting with him for a while. He is a doctor, now retired, who spent his whole career in Lampang. He studied at one of the best medical schools in Thailand and is now retired - walking around is how he put it. He says he spends his days walking around Lampang. At the end of the night, he paid for our dinner and invited my science classes to come to the hospital he worked at for a field lesson. I told him I would take him up on that. I just love Thai people and look forward to meeting him again as he is a regular to this restaurant.

Who needs organization

For all of you who are interested in teaching and education (those who are already involved I'm sure know this), one of the most important things is organization. Not keeping yourself organized (which always helps), but the order in which you present the material is very important. This first go around, with every class I teach, there is a better order to teach the material. So, it's a bit frustrating to be in the middle of a lesson and realize that you should have taught this two days ago or your next lesson shouldn't be taught until you've covered something else. Alas, the trials and tribulations of the first year as a teacher. But I realized that and got to spend the class today with my 7th graders learning about elements and atoms and creating models with candy. So, that was fun.

Teaching

I am about 1 week into my teaching here in Thailand and have had some adventures already. I jumped right into things and started a genetics unit with my 9th grade students. That has gone really well, partly due to the abundance of resources on the internet. The video clips and animations I have found really make a huge difference especially since I'm teaching them in their 2nd language. Today we spent time reviewing and playing genetics Jeopardy. I'm trying to give regular assessments to make sure they are understanding everything. We had a blast and it was really good to start joking with the students and connect on a different level. Until then, most of our classes were spent doing worksheets, lectures, watching videos etc. I really enjoyed myself. My 8th grade students have been a challenge. But I think I'm finally starting to understand them. The first lesson I taught was the last lesson in the optics unit. It was very disjointed. I really didn't know what they knew and bombed spectacularly. Moving into the next unit, Atoms, Elements, Compounds etc., I tried to spice things up a bit. I have had success with that, but they continue to struggle while I'm talking. After about 5 minutes, they are almost all distracted doing different things. They are the most challenging group so far, but I've also had fun with them. My 7th grade students are the cutest by far. I enjoy them a bunch. Their English is not so good, so everything is slow and steady and repetitive. We are doing a bunch of demonstrations and experiments and I make assumptions I shouldn't every class and end up scrapping most of my lesson to teach them something they need to know to do the lesson. That, is draining.

Teaching has been really fun and draining. The hardest part (aside from learning all their names) has been planning, more specifically, getting ahead. I have been planning for tomorrow today for the past week and it is draining. I'm really trying to get a semester plan put together and get about a week ahead, but it takes so much time. It's fun trying to be creative and teach chromosomes with gummy worms, but it also takes more time. I leave school at about 5:30, head to dinner, take a shower and am ready to crash. But most nights I try to read a little or watch a Thai soap opera (to brush up on my Thai of course) and the occasional cartoon. Cartoons are amazing. They can be understood in any language and nothing beats Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd speaking Thai.

A proud new owner!

Aside from the tea I'm currently in love with, I thought it time to write about some of the recent happenings around here.

Last Friday I finalized the purchased of a 2004 Yamaha Fresh II motorbike (and helmet). I now have wheels. The next challenge is to learn how to drive in Thailand. I've been trying to figure out how to best characterize driving in Thailand and the best I came up with was controlled chaos. The rules of the road that exists in America, do not apply here. Rules are determined by the biggest car on the road. As in Thai society, there is a definite hierarchy to driving. As a pedestrian, you are the smallest object on the road, thus you must yield to everyone. Bicycles come second and have the right-of-way only during encounters with pedestrians. Bikes are followed by motorbikes, which are then followed by cars. Progressing up the hierarchy becomes a bit more difficult as trucks of all different sizes cruise the road. But, nearly everyone yields to trucks. Those that do not, are no longer driving. So having acquired this bit of information I set out on my first ride. One of the closest parallels to me driving in Thailand is me first trying to speak Thai. My first conversations were disjointed and consisted of me fumbling around saying things like "can I have a penis". I elicited many laughs and friendly offers for help. My driving elicited similar responses. All joking aside, I am really enjoying cruising around and am going to enjoy getting to know the city this way. And my driving is not that bad and it's getting better all the time. I'll post some pictures soon of me on my bike.

This past weekend I headed north to Chiang Mai (where I spent most of my time when I studied) to see some friends and watch Pirates of the Caribbean. The bus ride took about 2 hours and was standing room only. I caught the last leg of a 24 hour bus trip from the south to the north, so most everyone on the bus had been riding for a long time and had claimed their seats. Silly me, I thought buying a ticket claimed my seat. The standing wasn't bad and I was able to chat with the person standing next to me, so all in all a good trip. I met up with several of my friends Friday night and spent a good bit of time chatting. It was really good to see them all. Saturday was spent shopping and getting the necessary supplies not found in Lampang and going to watch Pirates. I loved it. And it seemed like I was the only one in the theatre laughing. I guess the jokes aren't as funny when they are read from sub-titles. I did hate the ending. Stupid cliff-hanger. Sunday I headed back to Doi Saket (where my host family lives) and saw my host family. It was great to see them and we went out to lunch to celebrate three things - 1) my graduation 2) my birthday and 3) my coming back to Thailand. The weekend was really nice and I enjoyed myself and it again reminded me why I love Thailand.

I'm in love!

I found a new love...strawberry and peach green tea! Amazing. And only $.50 a bottle!

My first day

Hello again!

I am on a roll today and am posting entries like crazy. Today was my first official day of school and the first time I was left alone with the students. I had only one class today, but it was for two hours and it was with the M3 students (the equivalent of the 9th grade). They are just entering into a genetics unit, so I was able to kick that off myself. Planning the lesson has been interesting since I really have no idea what they know, how much they are able to absorb at once and so on, so this lesson was really a shot in the dark. But I think it went well. They seemed to follow well enough and were able to complete the exercise without too much difficulty. We will let the first test/exam speak to that though. I am glad to have the first class under my belt and now I have a better idea of what to expect. The M1 students (the 6th grade equivalent and the first year they are in the program) will be a challenge since they are still struggling with their English skills. Teaching them new science vocabulary in a foreign language will be interesting. But that's why I'm here.
One cultural note, after class one of the students led the others in standing up and thanking me. I'm not sure if they did that since it was my first day or if it is a regular thing. It'll be interesting to see if it happens again. I am also interested to visit Thai classrooms to see how they are taught and compare how the students behave (I have a feeling they are much more outgoing (to put it gently) in the English program with foreign teachers. I'll keep you updated.

Best,
Ryan

I have arrived!

Hello!

I have arrived! Well, I actually arrived about a week ago and have been getting settled in but didn't have the opportunity to write about the most recent events. The flight was uneventful and I was able to get some sleep on the way. The 9 hour lay over in Bangkok was also bearable and since I was up at 2 AM anyway, I was able to watch the France/Portugal World Cup semi-final game live. Once I got to Lampang it was really easy to find who I was looking for since a) they were the only white person there b) I was the only white person on the plane c) the airplane only had 24 people on it (I counted) and d) the airport was smaller than a small house. They had already arranged an apartment for me, so we went straight there which saved me from having to haul my luggage around as I looked for a place. All in all, arriving was super easy. That afternoon I went to school to meet all of the people I needed to meet and got a tour of the school. Bunyawat is one of the oldest schools in the province and the biggest. The whole school has about 4,500 students. Thankfully, my program only has about 80. Most class sizes are 60-80 students while mine have no more than 30 students. After that I went home, had some dinner and crashed. The next day (Friday) I went into school again and prepared for classes. It was a very relaxing day and I've gotten the impression that's the norm - it appears that none of the other teachers ever take work home with them, so I work from 8-4 in a very relaxed, air-conditioned office and have the rest of the time to myself (that will get even better once I have a motor bike). I also arrived just before a long weekend, so I didn't have classes until Wednesday (today), which is nice. Then I spent Saturday settling in and getting some needed shopping done (sheets, cell phone, fan etc.) and wandered around town getting hopelessly lost and catching a bus back to some place I knew. Then on Sunday I caught up with my friend who is from Lampang and hung out with her. Oh, before I forget - on Friday night I had to attend a wedding. It was the daughter of the director of my school, so I had to go. It was crazy. All we did at the reception was drink whiskey, eat foods (including fish stomach soup) and watch old Eagles concerts. It was ridiculous. Afterward, Kirk (one of the other teachers) took me to a birthday party for another foreign teacher in Lampang and there were quite a few other teachers there, so it was nice to meet them. I was definitely the youngest (and probably the most conservative). There's a group of about 40 foreign teachers in the town that get out (out of about 70 total), and they're an interesting group and all teach English at different colleges around town. So that's pretty much the story...Over the next few days/weeks I'm going to be looking for a motor bike to buy and a house to rent, so that's exciting.

Until next time,
Ryan

Hello Friends!

Hello Friends!

As I begin this adventure teaching in Thailand, I wanted to make sure that there was some way for me to stay in contact with you all. Realizing that I am not the most reliable person when it comes to sending and returning emails, I decided to try something else. So, I am creating this blog. Ideally this will serve as an outlet for my experiences - a way for me to document the experiences I have and a way for me to share those with you. Hopefully this will also reduce the challenge of summing up a month's worth of experiences into a single email and allow me to record events as they occur and post them for you to read at your convenience.

Best,
Ryan