Month: December 2015

Happy New Year

On By rrainefioreIn Thailand, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today we had more language and culture lessons.  We also had a sharing session where we were asked to write down why we were here.  Not, the canned polite response, but the real one – were we looking for something, running from something, what have we gone through to get here, what were we hoping to learn or how did we want to grow, etc.  I thought it was a very brave and real way to look at the situation.  I think it’s a huge part of what needs to be dealt with to learn and grow.  We also talked about the various emotions that may come up while adjusting to our new lives and various ways to deal with that.  I’m sure the importance of the exercises was lost on many.

I’m very impressed with this company.  One of the quotes I’ve seen several times through them is “You may not get the experience you want, but you will get the experience you need”.  I feel they have done a good job of stressing the importance of releasing expectations, embracing the new culture and going with the flow.  It’s almost ATP meets teaching English.  I am impressed.

Tonight was New Year’s Eve.  They planned a beach bbq.  I thought this might be kind of hokey and I kind of felt bad that the whole staff had to hang out with us on NYE, but it was awesome.  The beach was beautiful, the food was great.  A truck drove up and started playing music.  They don’t wait until midnight to set off fireworks so they were going off all night.  There were more fireworks at midnight, though.  People were sending off the floating lanterns too.  It was a beautiful way to celebrate the end of the year and the start of my new life in Thailand.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

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Elephants

On By rrainefioreIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Today they took us to a pineapple farm.  The pineapple is delicious here.  Xploreasia bought some of the pineapple that was no longer fit for humans to take to the Hutsadin elephant foundation to donate for the elephants.  I love the way Xploreaisa is giving back to the community in unique ways.  Then they took us to see the elephants.  They rescue elephants.  In order to pay for their costs, they sell rides or walks with the elephants and they have an elephant show.  It’s not ideal to have to “sell” them out to tourists, but it’s the only way they can afford to feed and care for them.  We got to feed them.  We also had Thai language class and had a talk about what it’s like to work with agents and schools.  We may have agents that represent us and help us with the teaching contract, accommodations, payroll, etc or we may work directly with the school.  Each situation will be different.  It may be fairly organized and structured or it may be the complete opposite.  The range of things we may encounter covers just about everything.  After that we went to the Thai market which I wrote about in my other blog from today.

After the market, I went out to a small shopping center with my house mates.  I really like my house mates.  There are 5 of us in this house.  We all get along and I feel like I have some of the more mature people in the class as my house mates.  There are 27 of us in class and I am the oldest by probably 20 years.  It feels odd at times for me.  The difference in age can go from hardly noticeable to staggering in a split second.  It’s difficult to quite put my finger on what it is.  I could say it’s maturity or a lack of it, but that’s not really it.  It’s more like an energy or frequency difference.  There is a more frantic energy to them as a whole which feels loud and awkward.  This tends to be more noticeable during the more social times and is hardly there during learning times.   There are quite a few that I can tell are going to be amazing teachers and are going to embrace the experience with an open heart and great courage.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

Finally, I’m Excited

On By rrainefioreIn ThailandLeave a comment

One of the most frequent questions I received from people before I left Colorado was “Are you excited”?  No.  I rarely, if ever, was excited.  The enormity of what I’m doing was too much.  What am I doing?  Who’s decision was this?  Oh crap, it was mine.  All along, I’ve known I would be fine, but if I can’t imagine myself living in Thailand, I couldn’t find the excitement.  Plus, there was so much to do to get ready that it was hard to see past the to-do list.  Tonight they took us to a Thai market, not one foreigners go to, but one where Thais go.  It was hot and crowded and there was so much food.  I had no idea what 95% of the food was.  We broke up into small groups and each group had someone from Xploreasia with them to help us with what everything was.  And we tried to order food in without using English.  I loved it and I was so excited to try so many things.  I can see myself going out in the evening and wandering around, finding my dinner, and just sitting on the side of the road people watching.  This is the first time this has felt real in a way where I can see myself living here.  It feels good.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

 

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Rescue Paws

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Today we went to a local temple and learned a lot about Buddhist temples.  It was right on the ocean and was very unique.  It had a beautiful view of Hua Hin off in the distance.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

 

After the temple we went to Rescue Paws.  There are lot of stray dogs in Thailand.  The Thai people often feed them, but don’t take them in as pets and don’t take care of them when they are sick.  And they don’t get spayed or neutered so there are so many.  Rescue Paws feeds a lot of dogs, spays or neuters dogs and returns them to their packs.  They also help sick dogs and try to adopt dogs to Canada that aren’t part of a pack.   We toured their kennels and surgery room and got to meet some of the dogs. If you want to learn more about the organization or help support them, here is their website. https://web.facebook.com/RescuePawsThailand/

 

Then we had Thai language lessons and a Thai politics class.  Then they took us to a Muay Thai class.  It was a lot like kickboxing.  They showed us basic punching and kicking moves.  It looked like almost everyone loved it.  I decided it was meh.

 

 

Day 1 of Class

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For the next 4 weeks, I’ll be in class to get my TESOL certification.  The first week is all Thai culture and language.  Then anyone that is already a certified teacher will move on to their jobs and the rest of us will continue on with the TESOL class.

Today we got into vans and drove down to Hua Hin.  We are in houses near the school so we were given time to settle in.  There are 5 of us in our house and our house is really nice, except the beds – I’m not happy with the bed – I can feel all the springs.  I’m sure I’ll get use to it though.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

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Our House Garden
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My Room
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Our House
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Row of washers at the end of the street

Then they took us to the local mall and showed us where our bank was and the cell phone store.  We had some time to shop and get lunch.  Then we went back to the school for  a talk about the area and logistics.  Everyone in my class and at Xploreasia is wonderful.  I am the oldest in the class by about 20 years.  It’s a bit odd, but not an issue.

That evening a few of us went to a night market near our house.  It had great food.  It was a beautiful place.  So much of Thailand feels run down or at the very least practical with no flare or artistic component to it.  Other than the temples, of course, which are detailed, colorful and glittering.  This market was beautiful with pretty lights, good food, and interesting shops.

Exhausted, I took a shower and went to bed early.  The days of showering once every 3 or 4 days a week are over.  It’s so hot here and it’s not their hot season.  Hope I adjust quickly.

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Minor Scam

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Well, today was much much better than yesterday.  I got to the hotel around 1:00am, slept until 6:00am when my body decided it was time to get up.  Later in the morning I met up with 6 of the other teachers in my program and we headed out check out parts of Bangkok.  We went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market which boasts to be one of the world’s largest markets.  It was pretty big, hot and crowded.  But there was coconut ice cream so I was a happy little kid.

We wanted to go to the Grand Palace after and couldn’t figure how to get from the train station to the Grand Palace.  A couple of tuk tuk drivers showed us where it was on the map, but it was closed due to a holiday.  They suggested we do a boat tour instead and see a different temple.  Apparently this is a common scam where someone will tell you where you want to go is closed and then take your to their friend’s place to spend your money instead.  Still, the tuk tuk ride was fun.  The boat ride was fun and interesting, but longer than I would have liked.  It’s very interesting how some people live in big houses and next door is a tiny shack that looks like it might fall into the water at any moment.  And then next door to that is a glittering temple.  The temples are amazing, ornate and beautiful, even the smaller ones.  We ended up another Temple, Wat Pho, that has the largest reclining Buddha statue.  It was so large, I couldn’t get a picture of the whole statue.  There were many temples all within the grounds of Wat Pho, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to explore a lot.  Then we got into way overly priced tuk tuks to go back to the hotel.

We had a meeting with Xploreasia that evening to introduce everyone and get the general info on tomorrow and the weeks ahead.  By the time we were done with the meeting, I was ready for bed, but needed to eat.  Most of us went to a night market for dinner.  The food was great.  Then I went to bed early.

Overall, it was a great day and I feel so much better about my choice to move abroad.  I’ve always known it’s going to be great, but the fear of the unknown has been very big lately.  The fear has retreated quite a bit today!  Yay!

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

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Travel Days

On By rrainefioreIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

20151226_000519_resized20151227_011845_resized20151225_111000_resized20151225_235400_resized20151225_110934_resizedBy the time I went to bed last night, I felt ready to go to Thailand.  Then I woke up several times panicking, thinking I’m bringing too much stuff.  But, it’s too late to rearrange stuff.  Both of my connections were close so I woke up worrying about that.  I purposfully booked one airline so I wouldn’t have issues with baggage and connections, but found out last night that I had two airlines.  My  first flight was at 7:30am so I got up super early and went to the airport.  There was issue at check in.  One of my bags was 4 pounds overweight.  I asked if I could take some stuff out and put in my carry on.  The lady kept telling me the bag was overweight and she couldn’t take it, but she wouldn’t give it back to me either.  Finally, I got the bag back and moved some stuff out.  It was still overweight and then I asked if I could just pay extra for it being overweight.  She freaked out and told me she was going to get fired and she couldn’t help me.  Again, she couldn’t take the bag and yet wouldn’t give it back to me.  She called over her managers.  Same story.  I kept asking if I could pay extra and they kept saying they couldn’t help me.  After 15 minutes of this round about conversation and a lot of crying on my part, I was able to get my bag back and had no choice but to pull more stuff out.  Not my carry on was almost too much for me to handle.  When I got to the gate, they announced that the flight was overbooked and some people would have to check their carry ons.  So I checked my overstuffed carry on for free all the way to Bangkok.  I may get to Bangkok and only have one change of clothes, but at this point, I don’t care.  I cried for half the flight.

I keep reminding myself that it’s all ok.  I’m safe and on my way.  But I just want life to go smoothly and when it doesn’t I just want to not get ruffled by it.  I guess I’m not there yet.   Cognitively, I get it that I create the world around me.  So, am I creating this drama?  Is this all because I’m scared so I’m secretly creating a frustrating world around me?  On the flight, I’m overcome with the huge feeling of “I don’t want to go”.  I can’t un-do this.  There is no un-do, no do-over, no going back.  I’ve processed this before, this feeling that I can’t un-do my childhood or being adopted or being born and I just want to un-do it all.  So, here it is again, but this time it’s about overpacking.  Seems trivial when you finally break it down to what’s going on.  So what if I over packed?

I got to LAX late and only had an hour to change planes.  This involved leaving the terminal, getting on a bus, going to a different terminal, going through ticketing again, and going through security again.  I made it just as the plane was boarding.  Whew.  Ok, things are still ok.

I arrived in Seoul late.  My plane was supposed to be taking off the same time we arrived at the gate.  I’m on a huge plane (row 64).  There’s no way I’m going to get off the plane in time.  I talked to the flight attendant.  She said they’d wait.  Huh?  I run through the airport.  I have to go through security again, I run some more.  I hear my name being called over the intercom, but I have no idea how to answer the call.  Then I see a man walking my way and he asks if I’m going to Bangkok.  I said yes and he started running ahead of me yelling Bangkok to the gate.  I can see the gate and it’s still open.  I get on the plane and take my seat.  It took me at least a half hour to catch my breath.  I didn’t know I needed to train for my flight.  As we are pulling out of the gate, they apologized for the delay.  It was due to connection problems.  Holy shit – they actually held the plane an hour for me.  And I didn’t have to deal with that heavy carry on.

I arrived in Bangkok and hour late.  My luggage was there.  My ride to the hotel was there.  I took a shower and went to bed at 1:00am.  I made it here.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

Kuma

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Some of you may remember the beautiful Saint Bernard I had, Kuma.  I had her for 5 years and she was my light in a rough time in my life.  I still miss her so much.  I’ve often thought about getting another dog, but I just end up bawling because I don’t want another dog, I want her.  And of course, once I decided a ‘live in another country adventure’ was going to happen, getting a dog wasn’t an option.  I found her ashes when I was packing up the house.  I’ve been meaning to take them to a snowy place for years now, but just never did.  I don’t need to put it off more by putting them in storage.  So today, I took some to my boss’ house where she spent a lot of time.  The rest I took to Genessee Park and found a nice place to spread them out so she can lay in the snow one last time.  So grateful for life having brought this wonderful creature into my life.  And grateful to have finally given her a proper goodbye.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

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Final Snow

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Colorado, UncategorizedLeave a comment

What a day.  This was my last day snowboarding.  It wasn’t as awesome as I had hoped.  I went by myself, traffic was horrible, whine, complain.  Then the last run, I decided to take a tree run off a green that no one had taken.  Somewhere in the back of my head I could hear the voice of past mistakes saying “No! Bad idea!”.  But, how bad could it be?  What?  They’d pull my pass on my last day?  It was steep.  It was untracked.  It was wonderful.  It funneled into a deep hole with almost vertical sides and no logical way out.  Crap.  I decided to try to get out by going back the way I had come just before going into the deep hole forever.  It took a half hour of post holing up a near vertical slope with snow up to my mid thigh.  Thank god for the snowboard instead of skis.  I could use it to put my weight on so I wouldn’t sink as far and carve away some snow so I wouldn’t sink as far.  It took a half hour to get back to the green trail I so badly wanted off of earlier.  It was more cardio than I’ve seen in the past couple months combined.  I was delighted to take that green run all the way to the bottom and back to my car.  Did I learn my lesson?  Probably not.  I’m sure the lure of fresh untracked powder will call to me again and I’ll follow, but not for a while as there is no snow awaiting me in Thailand.  This picture isn’t from that run, but from the run before it that wasn’t quite as awesome or as terrible.

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore

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