Greenheart Travel

Author: Chatham Cabelka

  • Tis’ the Season in Thailand!

    To say it’s been a busy past few weeks is quite an understatement! With assessments, grading and reports amongst the holiday craze, things have been hectic! But it hasn’t taken away from the amazing vibes that flow through Thailand this time of year. There is much to celebrate and much to take part in, which has only deepened my love for Thailand and the Thai people!

    Rainy season in the South of Thailand is upon us, but we still try to explore the city of Hat Yai and its surrounding province of Songkhla, even if that means we get completely drenched and muddy from one of the many downpours. A few weekends ago, we decided to check out the Khlong Hae Floating Market. This market is filled with music, shopping, food and beer (always lots of beer). The market gets its name from the many docked boats that line the peer.  On each boat sits a lovely lady or gentlemen, usually under a cute umbrella, preparing and cooking their specialty food. They hand you your food in a basket attached to a long stick. It’s pretty adorable. Like I’ve mentioned before, Hat Yai has very few westerners, so it’s always a fun experience going to places like this because everyone is beaming with kindness and excited to meet us. I do have to admit that the constant staring and whispering on a daily basis gets a little weird. We often hear the Thais say to their friends “farang, farang” (meaning foreigner/white person) … which is then followed by a group of Thais turning their heads and staring at us in bewilderment. But we’ve decided to embrace it and just smile back!

     

     Each November, a huge festival takes place, called Loy Krathong. Loy Krathong is translated to mean, “to float a basket”. Thai people use a banana tree trunk that they then wrap and decorate with banana leaves and flowers. On the basket, they light a candle and incense. Traditionally, they place a clipping of their fingernail and a strand of their hair in their basket to let go past transgressions and negative thoughts. People dress in beautiful, traditional Thai clothing to honor the day.

    We had a lovely celebration of Loy Krathong at our school where the teachers and students all came dressed up and created our very own Loy Krathong baskets with our students! The students had been learning how to make the Krathong baskets in their Thai class with their Thai teacher so that they could teach their Western teachers how to make them during the school celebration. It was very fun getting to be the student while my kids showed off their talent and taught me how to make the Krathong! Prior to the day of the festival, the Thai staff that I work with took the western teachers to a fancy Thai dress store. At this store, they have traditional Thai attire that you can rent or buy. All the ladies rented colorful sabais (suh-byes), which is the wrap you wear on the top of your body. We also rented colorful, long wrap-style skirts. The outfit is topped off with gold sparkly jewelry and a belt. It was really amazing getting to be apart of the festival alongside our passionate Thai co-workers and students! They were so happy to see us taking part in their celebration. At night, is when everyone goes out to release their krathongs into nearby bodies of water. A group of us headed to Hat Yai Municipal Park to release our krathongs into the lake. There was so much music, food and happy people. We made our wishes as we released our lit krathongs into the water and enjoyed some yummy street food. It was a very memorable experience!

     

     
    The girls working hard at making the krathong!

    Not being home for Thanksgiving this year was kind of sad, as it is one of my favorite holidays! Some of my co-teachers felt the same and so we decided we would throw a Friendsgiving potluck in Thailand! Erica and I hosted the gathering and it was quite the success! Although there was no turkey in Thailand this year, we managed to find a delicious roasted chicken that when eaten with gravy, tasted just like turkey! Easily the best part about our Friendsgiving is that one of the girls managed to make scrumptious homemade mashed potatoes while Erica found freaking STOVETOP STUFFING at a higher-end grocery market (who would have thought that would exist in Thailand?!!). I loaded my plate with these two luxuries and fell into the greatest American-style, carbohydrate-filled food coma. I have no complaints about my Thanksgiving in Thailand, except for the pound or two that was added onto my hips<3.

                Some other highlights of the past few weeks include going to the cinema to see Hunger Games (in English!!) and falling in love with Indian food. I’ve always said how I hate Indian food, but WOW, was I wrong! For one of our co-teacher’s birthdays, we went to this little Indian restaurant that the Brits love, which is actually in the front dining room of the owner’s home. You have to call ahead to place your order or else it could take up to two hours of waiting. The family is so sweet and very proud of their cooking… and they most definitely should be because it was some of the greatest flavor I have ever tasted. I ordered chicken curry with coconut milk, rice and garlic naan. I ended up dreaming about the meal that night <3<3<3. I officially LOVE Indian food.

                As I mentioned earlier in this post about the crazy craziness of the holiday craze… well, it has been mostly fueled by the preparation for our school’s Christmas Concert and Gala. Now, this was no ordinary school Christmas concert. Our school went BIG. Many Thais absolutely love Christmas and everything about Christmas. Our school decided to throw a huge concert/gala where each class performed a Christmas song, dance or musical act, followed by a whole school finale dance to the High School Musical theme song. All staff, families and friends who attended had to dress in red or green themed formal attire. They had a classy hotel restaurant cater the gala and had quite the spread. For the past month, our school has been getting totally decked out with Christmas lights and all sorts of decorations around all the campus buildings. They even set up a humungous (mall-sized) Christmas tree at the school entrance, where prior to the start of the concert, they held a tree lighting ceremony. Class teachers worked hard at preparing their class’s performance for the last couple of months. My class performed Frosty the Snowman and they were FANTASTIC! I am so proud of them. They loved dressing up in winter clothes since they never have any chance to wear winter clothing otherwise! However, I did feel a bit guilty for the costume choice when I saw them getting super sweaty walking around campus in full costume amid the tropical heat, but gosh were they cute!! Our male western co-teachers had been preparing a big, secret performance for the Christmas Concert. They call themselves the Blooms Boyz and like to pretend that they are a boy band, but that’s mostly because the Thai staff loves them and thinks that they are a boy band, or look like a boy band. They put on a hilariously perfect performance of “Last Christmas” with a huge, ridiculous “Blooms Boyz” backdrop. The Thai girls loved it <3. It was an incredibly impressive and fun night and it definitely helped me feel like Christmas is coming even though I am so far from home!

                We are currently enjoying a three-day weekend. We have this Monday, December 7thoff of work because it is the King of Thailand’s birthday, which is also known as Father’s Day for the Thai people. It is one of the biggest celebrations of the year and everyone wears yellow, as that is the King’s color. It is a dry holiday and everyone engages in some type of celebration for the King. This week, there is a huge “Bike for Dad” event going on countrywide. It is in honor of their father, the king, and for months everyone has been wearing these shirts in preparation and excitement for the celebration. I have even purchased a “Bike for Dad” shirt. I am actually wearing it right now as I type this. All day since I have had this on, I have gotten so many sweet smiles and loving gestures from the Thais. Maybe they like seeing a westerner embrace the celebration that is so dear to them. It has been a very interesting thing to witness and experience!

                This weekend, we took our beloved motorbikes for a ride to Songkhla City. *Side Story- We have officially given our bikes a name. I named my baby, Marcy, and Erica named her’s, Susie*. Each time I visit Songkhla, I love it even more. It is a bit greener and a bit more tropical looking than Hat Yai; it can be a nice retreat from the big city. We went to a delicious café called the Secret Garden. They have a variety of Western dishes that are actually done right! It was a nice break from Thai food, even though I still crave Thai food every day. I often think about how I am going to cope with this when I am back in the States :/. After the café, we headed to Tang Kuan Hilltop, which has a park with stunning views of Songkhla, the ocean and of course, monkeys!!

     

     This upcoming week is our last week of term already! Friday, December 11thmarks the last day of school and the last of parent-teacher conferences before beginning our three-week holiday break! I am constantly amazed at how quickly time flies by and must remind myself to be taking in every single moment of this journey as much as I can! For the school break, we have been planning an adventure-filled trip! Erica and I are heading off to Cambodia —> Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    —> Bali —> Gili islands! We are SO excited to step outside of Thailand to explore what else Southeast Asia has to offer! Stay updated on my travels through Instagram and Facebook until my next post!

  • The Unordinary Starts to Feel Ordinary

                It’s been a while since I have blogged! The more I settle in, the less this life feels like something unordinary. At this point, it is hard imagining being anywhere else but here! Routine has really taken hold and that obviously comes with any person who works a job, especially teaching. Teaching has been absolutely wonderful. Ever since getting back from our vacation up in Northern Thailand and starting this half-term of school, things have been intense! There has been a lot to do and each week feels like its going faster and faster. Bedtime has become 9:00pm on weeknights. As much as I would like to say I do not take work home with me… I definitely do. It is truly just inevitable. Yes, I have a few planning periods at school but there is just never enough time in the teaching world. Any teacher could tell you that there is ALWAYS something else you could do or work on. You are never “finished”. I knew this going into the profession, but it is funny how it is the same all over the world! However, my kids are worth every second. Having such a tiny class size has allowed me to create incredibly authentic and meaningful relationships with each student. Being an international school, we were able to celebrate Halloween! The kids came dressed up in their costumes and I have to admit, they go ALL OUT with their costumes, they looked better than most people do in the States on Halloween! We had a costume parade, a jack-o-lantern competition and trick or treating around the school. It was an awesome day and it felt a little like being home.

    Things are about to get even busier though…
                Thailand requires schools to give three yearly examinations in each subject that is taught. We have approached our first examination time. That means I am responsible for creating exams for Literacy, Numeracy, Science, History and Geography. Not to mention I have to create several different levels of each exam. This is due to having a special needs student in my class as well as having another grade of students combined into my class for history and geography; there are not any standardized tests like there are in the United States. Then there is of course doing student reports and having them ready for parent/teacher conferences by the end of term. The next couple of weeks will be interesting!
                The past month, Erica and myself have become more familiar with our city of Hatyai and the province it is in, Songkhla.  Most people know we were a bit nervous coming down to the South of Thailand, but our experiences here so far have shown us that it is still like any other place in Thailand, if anything, just more culturally unique. I must say, I love being in a place where there are basically no Western tourists. It makes me feel much more immersed in the culture around me. We explored a popular park in the city, Hatyai Municipal Park. It was a lovely afternoon of checking out the stunning views of the city. There is also a mini lake with a large water fountain where people like to paddleboat on. Alongside of it, there are stands of numerous different sculptures that you can pick from and paint. Erica and I decided to take some time to relax a bit and paint a few adorable pieces! Luckily they had a “Hello Kitty” one for me and therefore, it was well worth it. I won’t show a picture of the aftermath though. Unfortunately the young girl working at the stand, who wrapped up our works of art, did so in newspaper, while they were still a tad wet. I don’t need to say more.

                I also am excited to share with the world that this past week, Erica and myself have officially become proud motorbike owners! Like I’ve said before, you are not Thai unless you ride a motorbike. There is no doubt that having a motorbike has made life a little bit easier and not to mention, much more fun! We promise we will do everything in our power to be careful amongst the crazy Thai motorists.

     

     

     

     

                Last night, we had a farewell dinner to a French teacher of ours. We rode our bikes to Ko Yo, Songkhla. It is a gorgeous island lake where there is lots of fishing. It is good to know that there are places like this so close to Hatyai. Sometimes, we need a little break from the hustle and bustle of the big city! We dined at Sunset Café. It is quite a deserving restaurant name. The enchanting views of the sunset over the water were breathtaking! Experiencing moments like this one makes me feel even luckier to be on this journey!

  • Fell in Love with Northern Thailand

                This past week, we had the pleasure of exploring Northern Thailand; more specifically, we adventured throughout Chiang Mai and Pai. Words cannot begin to describe the unique and breathtaking beauty that is Northern Thailand. I guess living in a large city in the way South of Thailand makes you appreciate the mountainous, hilly, green scenery and plentiful fresh air that makes up the Northern regions. There are infinite things to see and do, which made it very hard to squeeze everything we wanted to do into one week, but we did the best that we could!
                Chiang Mai was by far the cleanest city I have seen since arriving in Thailand. I have a feeling that’s because it’s an extremely touristy city. I am not exaggerating when I say that the people we saw walking around the city were basically ALL westerners. It is actually funny because during our training course in Hua Hin, we were warned that once we have lived in Thailand for a few months, we would start getting annoyed of all of the tourists. This is very true. We have tried to start avoiding the tourists and touristy spots altogether! It’s pretty crazy how a Thai person’s attitude changes towards you once they realized you live and teach in Thailand. If you’re lucky you may even get the local Thai prices on things like tuk-tuks, excursions and market shopping, rather than the tourist prices, which are basically quadruple the Thai prices. We usually point to ourselves and say, “khru” (teacher). This usually sparks a conversation about where we live, how long we have been in Thailand, how long we are staying and always end with them asking, “you teach me English?” We love practicing our Thai on them and they love practicing their English on us!
                In Chiang Mai we explored numerous Wats (temples). The Wats in Chiang Mai are absolutely incredible and are everywhere. Many of them are hundreds and hundreds years old and each of their architecture is uniquely stunning. As our friend Brian quoted, “there are more Wats in Chiang Mai than in a Lil’ John song”. The only thing I wish is that I knew the name of each Wat we visited, but we saw so many that we lost track! 

     

     

                The streets of Chiang Mai also have a lot of character. Among the smaller brick side streets, you see a lot of interesting street/wall art. 

     
     
     

                One of the things we were told we must do in Chiang Mai was to take a Thai Cooking Class. Erica and myself are extremely glad that we did. All of you who know me, know that I do not cook. I have been fortunate enough to have a grill master of a dad, a Sicilian mom and a Nonno and Nonna (Grandpa and grandma) who have always cooked fabulous food for my family. Somehow, I was too busy eating all of my life to actually learn their cooking techniques. This cooking class was exactly what I needed! There was a small group of us in the class. There was a couple from Barcelona, two friends from Holland and a Chinese man. The Chinese man was quite an interesting man. He felt the need to shove every herb, root and vegetable that we were about to cook with up his nose to get the deepest of smells from it before using it. Erica was lucky enough to be next to the Chinese man when preparing their curry. He was eager to shove her plate of ingredients up his nose before they made it onto her pan. We shared many laughs with them throughout the night, understanding of all of our inexperience. We had an adorable young Thai woman as our instructor and she knew so much cool information about all of the traditional Thai cooking ingredients. We looked at their herb garden and she introduced to us the various herbs, roots and vegetables we would use in our Thai cooking. Before we got to cooking, our instructor taught us about a dish that Thai people always put together for their special guests before they begin eating. It symbolizes the different flavors that make up a Thai dish because the Thai people believe that every dish should balance each of the different senses of taste. These include:
    1.     Spicy
    2.    Sweet
    3.    Savory
    4.    Sour
    5.    Bitter

    The Herb Garden!

    The plate symbolizing the five flavors of Thai food!
    We got to make five things. For each of these things, there were several options to choose from.
    1.     Stir fry – I made hot basil chicken.
    2.    Spring rolls
    3.    Curry paste – I chose to make green curry paste
    4.    Curry – I chose to make green using curry paste I made
    5.    Dessert – mango sticky rice

      
     

                Thai people love spicy. They think all westerners are babies and find it funny when we sweat and cry from their food. It is actually a source of entertainment for them. Thai chili peppers are not be messed with. We learned green curry is the hottest of curries because of the type of chili used. I could not put my eye contacts in for THREE DAYS because the remains of those damn chilies lingered in the skin of my fingers (even after scrubbing my hands and fingers raw with hot water and gallons of soap).
                Making the curry paste was definitely the hardest. Mashing all of the ingredients so that they would turn into a paste was quite the work out. Another valuable thing that we learned is that Thai people cook with their emotions; there were no measuring cups or spoons used at all. Overall, I was very proud of Erica and myself. We cannot wait to cook for our families at home!
                One of the days we went on an excursion to the outskirts of Chiang Mai. The excursion included zip lining, elephant care and white water rafting. Each activity was amazing. The zip lining was insane and worth every second of the Thai guys laughing at my cluelessness of what to do. The group of guys were there to help set up the lines, show us the ropes, and give us horrible pep talks. The elephant care could have been longer but bathing them was adorable and so much fun! Looking into an elephant’s eyes, you just know that there is so much more to them. The way they move, gather, communicate and stare into a human’s eyes is a beautiful thing. For such large, beastly animals, they are gentle and loving. Lucky for us, it wasn’t only bath time for the elephants but also poop time for the elephants. It seems they all like to poop in the river when they get their baths. Erica was the luckiest of all when a piece of poop, the size of a basketball, wrapped around her legs while flowing through the river’s stream. We got to feed the elephants after as well. One thing I have learned is not to wrestle an elephant. I had a stack of 20 bananas that I was meant to hand out to the group of elephants and one mama elephant literally grabbed the entire batch with her trunk out of my arms as I struggled desperately to hold onto them. At least I gave one of them a hefty yummy snack! Lastly, the white water rafting was kind of more terrifying than I thought, but we managed to stay on the whole time! Towards the end of the rafting experience, we switched to bamboo rafts, which were pretty cool until Erica fell through the bamboo. 

    After our first zip line platform!
    No I didn’t get stuck…
    Our zip line team!

    My elephant for bath time!

     
     It was way rougher than this I promise.
    The dangerous bamboo raft.

               We also met up with some of our friends from our time in Hua Hin. It was so great to see them! We went on an excursion to Doi Inthanon National Park. Apparently it is listed as one of the “things you must see in your lifetime” on many travel blogs. Unfortunately, it was foggy and rainy, which made it impossible to see all the views. But oh well, we still made the best of it and it was still stunning! There are many things to see in Doi Inthanon National park. It is highest mountain in Thailand and on this mountain are two giant Chedis (two adjacent temples) that were dedicated to the King and Queen of Thailand, beautiful gardens and gorgeous waterfalls.  We had a hilarious jokester of a tour guide. Her name was Gang (Gaahng), but she said her friends call her Gang-ster, so we started calling her that as well. On the way up the mountain, we stopped at a town that belongs to a Hill Tribe that has been around for a long time. Hill Tribe land in Thailand are kind of like Native American land in the U.S.


    Hill Tribe farmland with Gang-ster photo bombing.
                               
    Hill Tribe farmland
     

     
    These are one of the Chedis. This one is dedicated to the queen.

     


     
    The highest point in all of Thailand!

                Halfway through the week, we took a minivan up north to the city of Pai. It is about three hours away from Chiang Mai. Pai is known to be a chill, hipster town also filled with many tourists. Pai was different from Chiang Mai though; it was much more relaxed and the tourists were extremely friendly and eager to chat. We absolutely adored Pai. We trekked long and hard up the famous hill to see the Temple on the Hill, which has an awesome giant buddha on the top and amazing views of the city. We ate our weight in the many delicious offerings at the night walking market and also stepped outside of our comfort zones and rented a motorbike! Erica and I freaking loved riding motorbikes. It was so much fun just hopping on and hopping off at our own convenience. In order to be Thai, you must ride a motorbike.We rode our motorbikes to many of the must-sees, which included Pam Bok waterfall, the Land Split, Strawberry Love and Pai Canyon!  


    Some good shots from Temple on the Hill 

     Beautiful rural part of Pai 
    Strawberry Love – Which is a strawberry farm!
     
    Pam Bok Waterfall

    More of Pai <3
    Snacks provided by the gracious family that owns the land at the Land Split!
    The land keeps splitting every few years!

    Had to get a motorbike snap! 
    Pai Canyon!

                The week flew by but we did some pretty awesome things and made so many more memories. We had a very early flight back to Hat Yai once our week was over. Somehow, Erica’s alarm didn’t go off. Our flight was at 6:45 am and we didn’t wake up until 5:50am. For some miraculous reason, we still made our flight with the only downsides being morning breath, bed hair and overpaying a tuk-tuk because there was no time to negotiate. One thing I know for sure is that I will definitely be going back to the Northern cities of Thailand during my stay here!

  • Hat Yai Livin’

    Things have gotten very real very fast within these past two weeks in Hat Yai. The first month of living in Hua Hin was pretty much living in la-la land because we had the team at XploreAsia holding our hands the whole way and helping us transition into the many unfamiliar Thai ways. But now, we are just adults (kind of), all on our own, confused, sometimes helpless, living in a foreign country with lifestyle and cultural differences that are hard to even translate into writing; and believe me, there are many realizations to be had in this alien type situation. 
    Let’s be clear though…
    I love each and every second of it.
    …. and with that love comes moments of enormous frustration, bewilderment, apprehension and then also being in that constant state of disarray. Things just simply do not work the same way here and most outcomes of any situation or encounter leaves you feeling lost and most likely unaware of what actually happened. The Thais always win. It is just something you have to accept as a foreigner. There is an expression people like to use here…
    “It’s the Thai way”.
    This is used in every explanation of something that has gone wrong or not as originally planned, which is literally EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. There is no point in planning anything here, because it will change… especially things like appointments, which foreigners take very seriously. The Thais live in the now and do not think about the future as much as us foreigners, which can without a doubt be refreshing but it can also be the most irritating thing ever. Living and working in a developing country has made me realize how very little I know of humanity and the world beyond being a “westerner”. I am not saying I am anywhere near having or will ever have all the answers, but I truly feel lucky to have the opportunity to hopefully try and figure at least a fraction of it out. Yes, I totally lucked out with my teaching job and living accommodation. Our work treats us very well and our accommodation is super nice; but it doesn’t take away from what we see and experience on a daily basis when we walk off the property grounds. On the most normal of days we will see anything from unprotected babies plopped on the front of speeding motorbikes to endless piles of foul smelling trash filling the streets, sidewalks and rivers. It is more than just saying “its different here”… it is accepted. Another common thing to see here is almost half of the locals wearing doctor type masks whenever they are outside, especially along the roads. Hat Yai has a huge problem with air quality. The past week there has been the thickest and densest fog surrounding the city. This is what the weather app usually looks like…

    Yes. That say’s “Smoke”. 
    I can say without hesitation that Hat Yai has some of the kindest people I have met so far in Thailand. There is so much to do and there are some pretty impressive/modern shopping malls. It is a very ethnically diverse city with a variety of unique cultures and traditions. I feel like I say this every blog post, but I mean it this time… Hat Yai definitely has the best food so far as well! Thanks to the various ethnicities present here, my taste buds have taken full advantage of the many different and delicious cuisines that Southeast Asia has to offer. I have really fallen in love with the soupy noodle dishes (it’s better than it sounds, I just do not know the name for it).

     

    And oh yeah…one of the biggest reasons why I am here… teaching! Teaching has been great so far. The school campus is beautiful and the staff and students are amazing! I am just finishing my second week now, and then we go on a half-term break for a week…many thanks to the British school holiday calendar that we follow!
    I’ve had the pleasure to become the Year 3 teacher (second grade) to the sweetest and most bright students whose English proficiency is incredible. I teach almost all subjects, including: Literacy/English, numeracy, science, PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education), geography, history AND computing/ICT. It has been a fun challenge teaching all of these different topics, but it is definitely a lot more lesson planning. The school being so new, the class sizes are tiny, which is ultimately a teacher’s dream!  However, this past week we have had a trial week to get new students to enroll and I had about 11 more added to my class. Typically I am used to classes of about 30 students and it is a very normal (but not ideal) number for American public schools. The hard part in this situation is that most of the kids who joined the trial week do not speak a word of English…and hey, that is why I am here! But then there is the fact that I have to teach all of these other subjects to them as well… on top of having them learn English! Differentiating my instruction this week has been the biggest challenge so far. Trying to challenge my own students while spending half the class explaining the different lesson subjects to the new students has proved difficult. All of this can only help me grow as a teacher and a person so I am just embracing it!

    Since our week break starts Saturday the 10th, we have planned a trip to the epic Northern cities of Chiang Mai and Pai! We are meeting up with our group of friends from our time in Hua Hin! I am so excited to see what Northern Thailand has to offer!

  • Final Days in Hua Hin

               Well… time has begun to fly by. The first two weeks felt extremely long, and I do not mean that in a negative way. It just seems that time feels slower when you haven’t established a routine. In those first two weeks here in Thailand, everything was insanely new and we were busy doing anything and everything, which made each day feel like a week. However, these past two weeks have come and gone in the blink of an eye. Having our own cute home, going to our TESOL class everyday, adapting to a more structured schedule, and finding our regular places where we like to eat and hang definitely has helped us in establishing some sort of authentic routine.
                Last Friday (9/18), we had our second full day of practice English teaching. We went to the same school as the Friday before, but this time we taught Matthayom level students, which is secondary/high school. This was quite the age change from what I am accustomed too. This time instead of teaching six different hour-long classes, we taught five different hour-long classes with an observation period (where we could go observe a fellow teacher’s lesson). It was a totally different experience than last week. Classroom management was pretty challenging still, but in a different way. The challenge this time wasn’t the excessive rowdiness, but the utter lack of motivation. Every class had the usual couple students that were excited to learn, but then getting the other 35 students interested was incredibly tough. A significant chunk of our job as English teachers in Thailand is to instill a love or even an interest in learning English. In this country, being able to speak English opens up so many more doors in life for these students. It is hard to explain just how significant the stress on learning English is within the Thai culture. The Matthayom student’s English language proficiency was low, which made the lesson I planned especially tricky to teach, but there was not as large of a language barrier as last week’s young students. Sure, I got a good amount of attitude and silliness from the adolescent age students, but overall it was a fantastic experience. I’ll be honest though, I still prefer teaching the little kiddos.
               The past week we have experienced one of Thailand’s biggest problems… FLOODING. The flooding here is absolutely ridiculous!!! I’m not talking getting your feet wet kind of flooding, I am talking streets turning into rivers, floors of homes flooding up to an inch in water, painfully learning about each and every ceiling crack that exists, and bullfrogs (for whatever reason freak out when it storms) chanting as loud as sirens. All I can say is that stylish, large, orange poncho has been my most useful Thai purchase thus far. 
         
                This past weekend, we went on an excursion to the “Temple Cave” also known as Phraya Nakhon Cave; it is about an hour from Hua Hin. Once we arrived at the national park grounds, we then took a longtail boat to the base of the trail to avoid extra hiking time. It was a steep hike to the cave, not the easiest climb but wow, it was so worth it. 

     

                We have also fallen in love with the adorable and delicious Cicada Market. It is a special weekend market here in Hua Hin with live shows, music, shopping tents, and the best food stands that I’ve munched at in Thailand so far. I am not a big meat eater and I have been eating mostly vegetarian here, always having to say “maung-saw-we-raht (vegetarian)” with every order I place since there is meat in literally every single type of cuisine. However, I have definitely splurged on some fabulous meat sticks the past two weekends at Cicada Market, with no regrets. One very important and exciting thing I must mention about this market is that THEY HAVE WINE. Very overpriced wine indeed with the skimpiest pours; but we are in such severe need for some good wine time that of course Erica and myself couldn’t help but splurge on it anyway. 

                 It is bittersweet to say that our time here in Hua Hin is nearing its end. Our month long TESOL course wraps up this Wednesday (9/23). We present our big curriculum projects, finish up some other assignments, take our final exam and then they hold a little graduation for all of us who completed the course. It is sad coming to the realization that after becoming so close with the other teachers in our TESOL group, especially those we have been living with the past month, that we now have to say goodbye to one another as we each go off to our own teaching placements throughout Thailand. All of the teaching placements are pretty scattered around the country, but I guess that just means we will have that many more places to go visit and explore!
                Erica and I are leaving right away to begin at our teaching placement. We did have plans to travel around Southeast Asia for the first month after our TESOL course as I have mentioned in previous posts, but this is Thailand and nothing goes as planned! Mai bpen rai!

                We have purchased bus tickets to our placement location and we will be leaving this Wednesday night! Our placement is about 12 hours South of Hua Hin in the city of Hatyai; it is the fourth largest city in Thailand and relatively close to all of the famous Southern islands. I am excited to say that I will be teaching 1stgrade at a private international school. Ironically, it is a British curriculum and should be somewhat similar to the type of teaching I did this past year at the British School of Chicago; however, these students will be English language learners of course. The school follows the British school holiday calendar, so I will be fortunate to have some great holiday breaks. I will be a lead teacher and will have my own class, which means I am teaching multiple subjects! Erica and I are teaching at the same school and living at an apartment complex where most of the school’s teachers live as well. Yes, it is different from what I thought I would be doing here, but I feel so lucky and I am ecstatic about this amazing opportunity and experience ahead! 

    Goodbye 
     …and Hello!

  • Two Weeks Gone

    Last weekend, we had our very own Thai style labor-day weekend, well, except we didn’t get the Monday off. We decided to take a group trip to hike Pala-U waterfall. It was an eventful hike consisting of me falling on my ass on four different occasions. Crossing the creeks and running water on slippery boulders in my running Nike shoes was NOT easy. It was beautiful though and we felt like we were in the Tarzan movie.

    Something special happened one night this week. A group of us, a few fellow teachers and myself, have found a “Thai mom” here in the city of Hua Hin. She is an adorable petite older lady who owns a fantastic Vietnamese/Thai restaurant. She loves big hugs, taking pictures and feeding us until we are stuffed. We will be visiting her as many nights as possible until we leave Hua Hin. She is amazing.
    The vibe has most definitely changed this week, but in a good way! Monday (9/7) marked the first day of our intense TESOL/ESL training. Our main focus this week in training has been preparing speaking based lesson plans, while also learning about Thai culture in the classroom and understanding how to tailor our lessons to different English proficiency levels and age groups. We jumped right into things on Tuesday (9/8) where we had to present our speaking based lesson plans to our fellow teachers also taking the course. We each covered a different topic/theme and centered our English teaching based on speaking skills and conversational skills. After receiving feedback, we had to present our lessons again to our peers to then practice classroom management and behavioral issues. Several of us had to act as Thai students during each of our peers’ lessons in order to practice different methods of classroom management. This is something I have done plenty of times in my own teaching experience back home, but oh my gosh… nothing, and I mean NOTHING could prepare me for the Thai classroom.
    This week was meant to not only help prepare us for our future teaching placements but also to prepare us for a FULL day of English teaching in SIX different Thai classrooms at a local Hua Hin government school on Friday (9/11). While I was given younger primary classes, others in my training were given upper primary/middle school classes. Regardless, I think everyone had an interesting, loud and sweaty experience.
    Let’s break this down…
    SIX different 1st & 2nd Thai classes – back to back (lunch break halfway) –
    SIX 60-minute English lessons X about 35-40 Thai students per class (roughly 230 kiddos altogether) with barely any English proficiency all while sweating profusely since air conditioning is non-existent in most schools.
    It was nothing short of pure CRAZY, but it was also nothing short of AWESOME. Getting the chance to immerse myself in the Thai classroom for the day was such an incredible experience. The day was only just a part of our training but wow; I am now even more eager, anxious and excited for my very own Thai class! Yes, having to deal with the utter chaos of the kids thinking they had a free day because they had six different “substitute teachers” teaching them English ALL day long (while their Thai teachers were enjoying their own free day), definitely caused a bump in my classroom management skills and technique… but oh well! I had SO much fun letting go of my concern and expectations for what a classroom should always be like, because the truth is, there is no way a Thai classroom will ever be like the classrooms back home and it is truly refreshing!
    The important thing to remember is that kids are kids no matter where you are in the world. Their smiles and laughs are infectious and their excitement towards learning brightens up any dreary day. Even though there is this awkward language barrier and it can be extremely difficult to communicate throughout the lesson at times, it is OK and is essentially why I am here! Overall, I think I am ready for this new challenge, or as ready as I’ll ever be! Next Friday, we practice teaching English to the high school students all day. God help me.

    Today (9/12) we decided to visit a bizarre but very cool place called Monkey Mountain. Up at the top there is a gorgeous temple and some amazing colorful architecture and casually thousands of monkeys. The monkeys are absolutely adorable but can get pretty wild and aggressive. They are clearly used to having humans around and getting food from them. If you do feed them, understand that you will be swarmed. It made me nervous watching my friends get swarmed so I decided to feed them in a gentler manner. Most of the monkeys were very cute, especially the little babies holding onto their mamas. It was definitely one of my favorite things we have done so far! 

     

     

  • So far in Hua Hin…

    Being in Hua Hin has been a breath of fresh air to say the least. After our time in Bangkok, we were pretty overwhelmed with the congestion as well as the fact that it is one of the most massive cities we have ever seen and experienced. Hua Hin is a beach resort town about two and a half hours South of Bangkok. It is very much cleaner and calmer. We were under assumption that since it is beach side, we would get a bit of a cooler air temperature or breeze at least. This is NOT the case. Walking around has been dreadfully hot and I mean HOT… like, sweat pouring out of everywhere; but it is definitely worth it. There is so much culture and friendly faces here and the food… wow…the food is DELICIOUS! There are endless street food stands and various markets where you can get the most authentic and fresh Thai food. Whether its meat on a stick, mango sticky rice, red or green curry, the options are endless. Before coming here, I hated curry, now I am ridiculously obsessed and seek it out everywhere I go to eat.

    Anyway, the main reason we are here in Hua Hin is for our Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) training. It is a four week long course that better prepares and certifies us to teach English in the Thai schools and this week has been our orientation week. The teachers are given accommodation during the duration of the course and I am currently sharing a cute little house with four other girls, including Erica. There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Erica and I share a room and bathroom. The bathroom is quite interesting and another blog post all together.

     
     
     

    I am still waiting for that large creeping critter to come surprise me though because I definitely know they are around here somewhere; however, we do have lots of lizards, inside and around our house. We do not mind them because they eat the little bugs, spiders and mosquitos so they’re actually good to keep around, plus they stay away from humans. Orientation week is meant to help us settle into the new environment and culture. It has been filled with amazing excursions and class sessions covering Thai Culture, Thai politics (which is actually fascinating) and Thai language. We have been practicing our Thai on some of the locals we come across when going out on the town. More often than not, we get lots of giggles and sweet smiles. Our Thai language teacher tells us not to take it personally because she explained that it’s something the Thai people think is cute, just like as if an infant was learning to speak. 

    Hua Hin has a lot to offer and we have done some pretty awesome things within this first week. We visited one of the largest pineapple farms in Thailand and this farm happens to be the largest exporter of the canned pineapples we eat in America. We saw how they grow and are planted and we picked pineapples to bring as donations for the elephants at a nearby elephant sanctuary. Easily, the best part of the excursion was at the end buying fresh sliced pineapple from the adorable Thai owners. I do not know how to express in words the tastiness of this pineapple, it was so so yummy, I will without a doubt be going back for more.

    Afterwards, we got to visit the elephants. Elephants are such special animals and I have always had a great deal of love for them and it was incredible getting to be so close to them. There is a young elephant there, baby Songkran, who we got to spend time with and she is just so full of life and insanely intelligent. She paints, bows, gives kisses and communicates in numerous ways, it is just enchanting to witness. Elephants LOVE pineapples, they eat the entire thing too. Little baby Songkran, however, chose to step on them and suck up the juice with her trunk because she is picky on the size and color of her pineapples :). Later that day, we also got to take a Thai cooking class. The director of our training program is married to a Thai woman and her own mother lead the Thai cooking class. We made classic Pad Thai and it was phenomenal! 

    We have visited Khao Tao, which is a gorgeous temple along the beach with a stunning view of the ocean and hilly region. We were blessed by the head monk and even had a chance to meditate within the temple. I have really fallen in love with the Buddhist culture (as expected) since arriving here in Thailand. I am very eager to travel around the country and see more!

    One thing I did not expect about Thailand, especially in Hua Hin, is the vast number of stray dogs. There are so many of them that they even form packs, with obvious leaders of the pack. They do not bother humans but it can be extremely saddening because they are seriously everywhere. Our program, XploreAsia, helps sponsor a rescue organization here in Hua Hin, called Rescue Paws. We went to see the rescue grounds and it was awesome seeing the work that they do. They vaccinate, sterilize and treat stray dogs as well as pay for all adoption costs, even transporting dogs out of the country to loving homes. You can donate to help these adorable pups here, https://www.crowdrise.com/helpingrescuepaws . If you’d like to learn more about the organization please visit, www.rescuepawsasia.org … they truly do incredible things for these dogs.

    Orientation week has come to an end with a great last day (Friday 9/4) of learning some Muay Thai boxing skills and having a beach BBQ hosted by our program to celebrate the end of our first week. Following the BBQ, we decided to have our first late night out on the town. Our Thai language teacher recently opened her own bar in the city of Hua Hin; she invited us to come for free drinks and to take part in her masquerade themed party! We had a great night and we were able to get to know a lot more about our fellow co-teachers on a social (and tipsy) level. Next week is when we really get into the TESOL course material, assignments and all of that fun stuff; so, we are taking this weekend to have fun and relax before all of the serious work starts! We cannot wait to see what else the next few weeks in Hua Hin has in store for us!

     

  • Hello Bangkok

    *Don’t worry, I will not usually blog lengthy day by day posts. It was just a short and packed stay in Bangkok and a lot of memories to share with you all!*
    It has been quite a busy past few days. Departing from the U.S on 8/26 followed by a somewhat lengthy layover in the Hello Kitty filled Taiwan airport had us all the more pumped to get to Thailand on the 8/28! It is now our third and final night in Bangkok… A city of zooming tuk-tuks, unidentifiable smells, fried critters on a stick and pretty fascinating people. Even after 24 hours of strenuous traveling, we hopped off our plane and took advantage of the full day ahead of us to explore Bangkok. There is an incredible amount of things to see and do, however, we have learned it’s a matter of getting around and knowing who to ask for help and how to just figure it out on our own. And let me tell you… That has involved a great deal of guessing. Most of the time we have gotten lucky but other times not so much. There is a variety of public transportation that we have successfully used. My favorites are the riverboat taxis and sky train, in part  because they provide relief from the hot, sticky heat that is Bangkok 24/7. 

    Day 1: Right after arriving at the hotel, we met up with some fellow teachers. We spent the day immersing ourselves into the city life and way of the Thai people, that included a lot of in the moment decision making. One of the beautiful things about being in Thailand is not always having a plan but just doing and seeing. We walked around Thailand for about 6 hours on foot until eventually getting drenched in a downpour at Khao San market. We slept like babies that night.  
                       
     
    Day 2: Erica and I decided to take on Bangkok by ourselves today. One of the hardest things so far is knowing how to get from A to B and then finding a cab or tuk-tuk who will just take you where you want to go without any scams or tricks. We ended up getting tricked into cabbing to a dock where we had to take a private (and annoyingly expensive) longboat to our destination, which was Wat Pho, the Reclining Buddha. The longboat ended up being nice but it just goes to show that you can’t set expectations for how things work around here or expect people to do what you think. Wat Pho was beautiful and filled with culture and a great first temple to visit.  
    After about an hour of trying (and failing miserably) to find a way to the beautiful air conditioned malls of Siam Square, Erica points out an older local gentlemen who she feels will help tell us how we can get to Siam Square. He ends up taking us under his wing for the next hour, getting us onto the correct local bus (only a one time experience) and then taking us around the large Siam square where he is pointing things out and showing us the ropes. He then walks us all the way to the door of the mall where he says, “we say goodbye now”. The gentleman was on his way to temple; I am not sure what it was about him but Erica and myself instantly felt tears in our eyes when we had to say goodbye. You can just tell when a person’s heart is so pure and good and although he probably thought his helping us was no big deal, it meant a great deal to us and I am not sure that in America you come across many people that are willing to take that time out of their day to help in that significant way. The mall ended up to be stunning and not to mention had an absolutely amazing food court. 

    Day 3: Today we decided to do the Chatuchak market with a few fellow teachers. I believe it is the largest street market in Bangkok. It was no doubt overwhelming and incredibly hot but they had some awesome street food and endless shopping. At night we had our first TESOL course meeting with all the teachers in our group as well as the XploreAsia team; it was a helpful short briefing regarding the upcoming weeks. Shortly after, a group of us decided to check out the infamous Vertigo and Moon rooftop bar. Pictures don’t do it justice by any means. It was a short visit because it is our last night in Bangkok and we head out early in the morning to Hua Hin, where we will be spending the next month! We have definitely had our fill of Bangkok and are ready for the next Thai city of Hua Hin! 
      

  • 1 Week Countdown To Thailand

    When people decide to pick up their life and move abroad, it can be a tough decision. For me, it was surprisingly simple. I realize the difficulties and uncertainties about living in a whole new country but that is precisely why I have decided to do this. I WANT a challenge. I don’t just want a story and an experience to share with my loved ones back home (which of course is a great bonus) but I want to do something that will challenge me as a person, a professional, a learner and a friend. I have done my research on the country of Thailand through those exciting cultural books, a variety of media (not always so reliable) and through the programs that are assisting my teach abroad adventure, XploreAsia and Greenheart Travel. I have also networked with many people who have taught abroad there. The most important conclusion I have come to is that going in with no expectations will ultimately have me leaving with the most fulfilled time abroad… and that is exactly what I am going to do.

    I know very little about this upcoming journey but what I do know is that I will be flying from Chicago –> Los Angeles –> Taiwan –> Bangkok (about 24 hours in flight, so fun). I will then be staying in Bangkok for a few nights until being transferred to the city of Hua Hin where I will begin a month long TESOL course taught by XploreAsia with other English Teachers, including my best friend and fellow traveler, Erica! TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. I guess the most nerve wrecking part about this journey is not knowing where I will be placed in Thailand to teach until about the third week into the TESOL course. I have heard great reviews on the program I am apart of and they are the ones assisting in finding a teaching placement for me. Erica and I are under the impression that we will be placed in the same village/town and that means we cannot be picky on where we would like to live! We are going with the flow and staying open minded.

    For now, all I can do is pack, prepare, say my goodbyes and eat all of my favorite American foods for the remainder of this one week countdown.

    Had to document a few of my favorites so I can look at them and remember while I am abroad <3