I am still waking up every morning with “I don’t want to”. It got a little better as the day went on. It was so cold this morning and pouring rain. This is the third day of cold that I don’t have the right clothes for. I did a wet wipe bath this morning – there is no way I am taking a shower – I don’t have hot water. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow so there is hope for a shower in my near future. I can’t wait to wash my hair.
I signed paperwork for my work permit today. Friday they are going to take me to Tak for a health physical. I think this is part of the work permit process? Then Pat said she’s show me the bus station in Tak. I will take a bus to Sukohthai and hang out there Friday night. Sukohthai use to be a kingdom from 1238 until 1583. The old city is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and they made a park out of it. I want to go see that. Plus, this will give me practice trying to navigate the bus system. I’m a bit nervous about that, but it’s got to be done sooner or later.
Not much else to report on today – still the same as yesterday. It’s early, but I’m going to go curl up in bed soon and do some reading or lesson planning or something. Here’s some random photos for your entertainment. The video is of a green jelly dessert.
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Still RainingThe solution to the ever wet Thai bathroomGreen gelatinous stuff in milkI like the marketCheerleaders from Sports Day. Pat is the teacher on the left in the upper photo
Well, I woke up this morning with the words”I don’t want to” on my lips……again. I put off getting out of bed and moved so slowly that I was almost late for school. But, I only have about 2 blocks to walk so it’s hard to be late. One of the other teachers saw me walking and gave me a ride on her motorbike so I was actually early.
I missed my first class today only because I hadn’t received my schedule yet. I taught 3 other classes. I just went through basic introductions – how are you, what is your name, what do you like, etc. It went well for the younger class, but was way too easy for the older classes. I have a bunch more classes this week that are older so I have to figure out how to make it more interesting for them. They are all so shy. It’s very difficult to get some of them to speak and some won’t speak loud enough for you to hear them.
Pat brought me lunch today. It was vegetables and…..you guessed it…..rice. After lunch, I felt the brain fog again that I have been feeling a lot lately. I don’t think it’s just all the new information, culture, language, etc. I think it’s the food. I’m use to eating mostly fruits and vegetables. Now, there are fruits and vegetables, but not much – it’s mostly starch.
I found out that tomorrow I have the class I taught on Monday, again. So, tonight I am trying to come up with a new lesson for them. I really want to be doing something else.
After school, Pat and her husband took me to the night market that happens on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were so many wonderful things. There were also some things I’m pretty sure I’m never going to try to eat. I’m looking forward to having a kitchen so I can go back to the market and buy vegetables! But, I don’t have a table or gas for the stove or a refrigerator so it will have to wait. I got a lot of strange stares for sure. If I wai to the people I see, they stop looking so judgmental and smile and wai back. Then I’m not so scary. They put fabric up between the food stalls to keep out the sun. They were meant for Thai people, not tall foreigners. I had to duck 90% of the time there.
I got home and a table, some chairs and a desk were sitting in front of my door. Yay! Now I can get the little bit of food I have up off the floor onto the table. And I can prepare food in the future on it.
I was just about to post this when I heard a bunch of giggling and “Teacher Rraine” downstairs. I went down and there were 6 students standing there. They gave me milk and pork flavored chips. They asked me a few questions in English, but it was mostly giggling since they are quite shy to speak English.
Now I have lots of instant noodles and a ridiculous amount of milk. Hmmmmm…..should I mix the noodles with the milk?
(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Yay Veggies! I’ll be back for you next week!Milk and pork chipsStudents gathering for assemblySchool bandAlmost a kitchenMy new desk and chairsOMG – These are green beans
What a long strange day. I was asked to do a speech before the entire school this morning. They said keep it short, a few sentences. I did and they they said, so short?
I taught a half a class. Then the teacher, Pat, who has been helping me took me to the cell phone store because my phone isn’t working. It turns out that the sim card I have won’t work in this area of the country so I had to get a new one (with a different company). It’s working now.
It’s sports day at the school so when we went back the students were all playing sports and there were no classes. Pat took me to get noodles for lunch. So, now it’s 10:30 am and I’m carrying around soup in a bag in a bag. Everything in Thailand is in a bag with another bag to carry that bag in. She tells me to go sit with Mae, another teacher. So I do. Mae then takes me to watch Wallyball (I’ll need to work on W and V apparently). After that she takes me to the library and gives me a book about the king written in English. She basically doesn’t know what to do with me. After awhile, Pat comes and gets me and brings me a bowl and spoon for my soup. So, I eat lunch even though I am so sick and tired of noodles and rice that I just have lost interest in eating. Then I meet with the School director and sign a ton of papers and my contract. Then we go to find out what my teaching schedule will be, but no one knows. One of the other teachers brings me a rice cooker. Oh yea – now I can make my own rice. She also gives me a small purse like bag because they all think my backpack is too big. There is no way I can put school things in that small bag. They take pictures of me as they are giving me the rice cooker and the bag. Then I get a copy of their text books so I can look at the type of stuff they have been learning in English. This will be helpful for later on. Now they are asking me if I will teach math and science. And will I teach the teachers after school? I don’t want to teach math and science, but have no issue teaching English to the teachers. There is supposed to be a closing assembly every day, but it was canceled for spots day so I go home a little early.
Tomorrow I am supposed to teach 4 classes. Wish me luck.
I get home and just want to take a nap. They tried to put a hot water thing in for my shower, but the water pressure is too low for it to work right. When I get home, the guy trying it was just leaving. I decide that a shower while it’s still warm outside is a good idea vs trying to take a cold shower once it’s cooler outside. It’s been very cool here in the evenings and very warm, but tolerable during the day.
I haven’t finished drying off when I hear my name being called. I throw on clothes and see who is at the door. It’s teacher Noi. She brought over the rice cooker that I wasn’t able to take with me earlier. She wants to know if she can help me in any way. I have no idea. She asks if I want to go for noodles for dinner. Oh god, no, I don’t. I tried gracefully to back out, but it was never going to work. I know that if a Thai invites you somewhere, you just have to go. No is not the correct answer. So I agreed. She drove me up to the dam which I hadn’t seen yet. We live near the largest dam in Thailand. We hung out there for awhile. Then she took me through a couple villages and took me to dinner. I haven’t paid for a meal since I got here. Most western teachers get a Thai mom at some point – someone who decides they want to take care of the foreigner. It’s not a set thing, it just happens. At one point she told me she was 53 and asked if I was sister. I told her I was 46 and she smiled and said “sister”. So, it appears that I don’t have a Thai mom, but a Thai sister.
I know that culture shock has set in and I’m depressed and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea. So, I just have to try to learn Thai and say yes to invites and get involved or the culture shock will just be more painful for longer.
I am exhausted and my brain is foggy. I don’t feel clear and I’m having trouble remembering things. Granted, there’s a lot to remember. But, I’m thinking that the change in my diet is part of why I feel so foggy. I not getting nearly the same amount of vitamins I use to get when I ate mostly fruits and vegetables. Now, it’s mostly rice and noodles with a small amount of veggies.
At this moment, there is a wild band of pissed off wasps trying to get through the bug screen. If I turn the light off, they go away, but then I can’t see anything. It’s the most annoying noise. I didn’t get a nap so I’m going to bed. Enjoy the pictures of the day:
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Thai fruit that tastes like an apple with a bad aftertaste
Kids from my school practicing rowing
There’s a big mountain bike race that happens here every yearEnter a caption
I moved. Friday we graduated. It feels too fast. Friday night we all went out for drinks. Wow, partying with 23 year olds is kind of boring. Who knew? Part way through the evening, I just decided to wander the bar and find someone else to talk to. I met Alan. He was drunk, but funny. Annalise, one of my housemates, Alan and I hung out and went to hear a live Thai band that played hard rock. The singer could really belt it out. Quite amazing. Eventually we met up with the rest of the group. A fight broke out in the bar (not people in my group) and someone got stabbed. This was the point where some of us decided it was a good time to go home.
I got about 3 hours of sleep and then got up to get on a van at 5:30am heading to Bangkok. Three other teachers were with me as all four of us have the same school agent. In Bangkok we had to get on a bus. The bus station was confusing and I had to drag my giant suitcases all over the place, but we managed to find the right bus. Then an 8 hour bus ride to Sukohthai. One of our agents picked us up at the bus station and took us back to their house. Everyone that lives on their street is family. The entire family bought all the land and built houses on this one street. At the end are some apartments where the agent’s teachers live. We met some of the other Western teachers. The three girls I was traveling with will be living there and teaching in Sukohthai.
An hour or two after getting there, one of the teachers from my school and her husband came to pick me up. Patty is an English teacher at my school and will be assisting me with everything until the end of the semester. She and her husband, Adam are real nice. They took me out for dinner and then drove me to my new home a few hours from Sukohthai. We drove by the school and some students were waiting for us. They followed us to my house and helped me take my bags in. I think they were the same students that painted and cleaned up my house for me.
Most teachers have small efficiency apartments. I have a traditional Thai house. Although, they put mosquito screens on all the windows which doesn’t look completely traditional. No glass windows, just big wooden shutters. There are still lots of holes and cracks for bugs to come in so I’m just going to pretend it’s like camping. There are two rooms downstairs and a bathroom. I will use one room as a kitchen. Have no idea what to do with the other room. I have a gas stove, but no gas. I have one table not big enough to put everything on. I have dishes which I think were Patty’s. A refrigerator is supposedly coming next week. The bathroom has a flush toilet – ish. My shower doesn’t have hot water yet – next week. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms. One has a twin bed and a closet. They gave me a bug net for the bed, but I’ve given up for now on trying to get it hung up. Now the light in my room isn’t working – it should get fixed next week. I could move the bed into the empty room next door, but decided that is too much effort right now and I have a headlamp…..
Today Patty and Alan took me to Tak, the next town, which is bigger to shop at Tesco (kinda like Walmart). I got some stuff for the house. Should have gotten a bigger table for the room we will call the future kitchen. Then we went to lunch. By the time I got back this afternoon, culture shock had set in. Although Patty is an English teacher and speaks fairly good English, it’s still difficult to communicate. Not very many other people speak English. There are no other foreigners here and I was quite the topic of conversation (in Thai) everywhere we went. I’m nervous about teaching. I’m tired of eating rice and noodles. And I just want my temperpedic bed. I got depressed. I know this is part of culture shock and it’s just going to happen from time to time. I tried to nap the blues away, but that didn’t work. I unpacked most of my stuff. Then I went for a walk in town. I felt a little better walking around, but still quite low energy. Patty and Alan took me out for dinner and now I’m sitting in my dark bedroom writing this.
I start teaching tomorrow – eeeeeek! Commence ridiculous amount of photos:
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Bus Window PhotoBus Window PhotoPhoto from busMy Kitchen or other roomThe other other room or kitchenBathroom – FYI: The hole in the wall is where the shower drains toMy bedroomBedroomThe guy in front of us is taking a dining room table home on his mopedHazy MountainsHazy MountainsThe front of my houseThe front of my house where I will live for the next yearBack yardMy streetMy schoolMy schoolMy schoolA street in Sam NgaoBig bad intersectionAnother street in Sam NgaoEnter a captionThey are burning trash, leaves, grasses, and ? That’s why the sky is hazyEnter a captionThe Ping River
Today I got my placement. I will be leaving Saturday morning and I start teaching for real on Monday! Eeeeeeek. Who’s idea was this? I’m going to North Thailand. I will be in a rural town named Sam Ngao teaching high school age. I will have classes of 40 to 50 kids – whoa. I will be signing a year contract. It’s mountainous and supposedly very beautiful. Since it’s near Myanmar and many hill tribe areas, it will be a cultural mix influenced by Burma, hill tribes and Thai. I will have traditional Thai accommodations which I think means I will have a squat toilet and probably won’t have hot water. I should have wifi and air conditioning in at least one room. We’ll see.
I will be the first Western teacher in the town. The town is so excited to be getting a Western teacher that they are already painting a house for me. I’m not quite sure what that will look like, but it sounds like a big deal. I will be paid 30,000 baht per month which is standard for a Western teacher. Plus they are paying for my accommodation which is a bonus. Western teachers get paid a lot more than Thai teachers. The Thai teachers may teach English reading and grammar, but they want us to teach speaking so that they have the correct pronunciations. Usually, the school can’t afford the Western teacher’s salary so the parents pay to make up the difference.
I was hoping for a small town or rural. I was hoping for either the mountains or the beach. I’m excited and terrified at the same time. I look forward to a slower paced lifestyle and being part of a smaller town where I will be immersed in the different culture. It’s scary, but this sounds exactly like what I asked the universe for. Now, if only, I can get better at lesson plans and teaching. I need to step up my Thai language learning too.
I did a google search and found pictures of mountain bikers so some sort of bike race took place there or near there. There are also pictures of a large dam. It’s near the largest lake in Thailand and near a river. I can’t quite tell, but I think most of the pictures I found are of the District and not the Town, but still…… Stay tuned and I’ll add pictures when I get there.
Rraine Drops 