Author: Elly Veazey

 

As I entered my fourth week of teaching, I was feeling hopeful and optimistic.  I had met with all my classes three times and administered one test.  I was on the right path and by December 18th, I should be able to present my grade-books to the Director of Education.  Monday and Tuesday as I did review lessons and gave the tests, I spent my free periods grading.  Being a Kindergarten teacher at home, I never have to really grade homework or tests.  I quickly learned how tedious and monotonous this task can be, add to that some tests had names written in Thai or had no names at all.  It took hours just to sort through all the stacks and arrange each class into numerical order (every student has a corresponding number, so even if I could not decipher their Thai name, nickname, or English name, I could figure out which student it was).  At this time I realized I would need some type of system to write down their scores.

I had their grade-books, but these were big and it would not be convenient for me to use each week.  Instead, I created a spreadsheet.  I used these spreadsheets to keep attendance and record test scores.  This took hours inside and outside of school.  All I did was create a page for each class, type in the students’ names in English, their nick names, and make a table with dates.  With over 900 students and unfamiliar names, it was much more daunting than I intended.  Still this was the best decision I made because this tool was extremely helpful as the semester continued.  I easily kept attendance, knew which students missed classes repeatedly, and I could refer back to it for test scores when it came time to record them in the grade-books.Of course I adopted a system of color coding student names to indicate who was missing tests, skipping class, etc.  Notice above how many students were absent multiple weeks in a row.  This still being the beginning of the semester, I had no clue what was in store for me!  As the week went on, I mostly spent each class having the students play the same games and a few new ones so they could practice the dialogue and vocabulary.  I also had to give some students the first test to make up.  Thursdays continued to be the most difficult with the youngest students and seven classes in one day.  However, it did give some reprieve away from the lessons about jobs and skills… they were getting really boring.

This week also marked the most torrential rain I experienced in all my time in Thailand.  I still had to ride to work, 35 minutes each way, with my bag hidden under my poncho.  It was very difficult to maneuver with sheets of rain coming down and it hurt as it flew against my skin.  I very clearly remember after the second day, on my ride home, just crying as I drove.  All I was thinking was this: “I left my home, my family, my friends, my job, my comforts… everything.  And here I am, in the pouring rain, cold, wet, hurt, and I’m working at a job that is just as difficult if not more.  I signed up for this.  I chose to come here and make this my life.  This is miserable.”  It was a tough few days.  It did not help that on that Friday I fell off my bike as I went over the railroad tracks.  I only banged up the bike a little and got some scratches on my knees and arms… but it just left me feeling very defeated. The weekend could not have happened at a better time.  I was grateful that I had been keeping some contact with a group of farangs I had met a few weeks before at the Halloween Party.  On Friday night, we agreed to meet for dinner at a local Western restaurant.  As soon as I arrived at Swan, I was greeted by big smiles from Kate, Lisa, Jon, and Kevin.  They had made a new friend as well: Nick, from England, who gave me a hello hug as we all sat down to eat.  It was such a comfort to hear their school woes.  We were all in very similar situations with our students, schedules, and schools.  We talked about how we handled lessons, what topics we taught, and they suggested giving oral tests instead of written ones to address the copying problem.  We enjoyed each others company all night, ending up at a local bar with live music.  We played cards, watched Nick do magic, danced, and laughed for hours.  Looking back I cannot even describe how lucky I am to have met this crew and become so close to them.  At the time I did not know it, but they would be my lifeline in Hat Yai for the months to come.  From that night on they embraced me for who I was, as I did them, and together we formed one of those indescribable bonds that only other travelers can understand.The weekend only got better with the arrival of a package from Ma, full of oatmeal, cliff bars, candy, and other assorted amazing comforts from the home.  Sunday we all went to see “Catching Fire” at a local shopping center.  It was in English and they even served butter popcorn!  I was glad to lay down for bed Sunday night, thinking instead: “This is why I am here…to make friends, to learn to be in challenging situations and to overcome them.”  My great weekend made waking up for work Monday morning a bit more manageable.

The next morning, Stephanie and I went to our respective schools to meet our colleagues.  I was among some of the first people at the school, at this time I still had not learned that 7:00am typically means 7:30 or 8:00.  I watched as students gathered their donation buckets, each class decorated theirs in their own style.  Some students were also preparing themselves in traditional Thai clothing.  There was a lot of excitement and I was eager for a Thai teacher that spoke English to arrive.  I had a lot of questions about what was going to happen that day.As it turned out, when P Juliette, P Ae, and Nam arrived, I did not actually get much information!  Instead, I just moved along with them and enjoyed spending time with them and the students.  First stop was outside a temple where both Songsaeng Wittaya (the elementary school where Stephanie works) and Songsaeng Commercial School and Technological College gathered together.  The students began to get into lines for the parade with some students holding their offerings or musical instruments and others ready to dance or collect money.  I walked up and down the line snapping photos and greeting the students.  Over the next hour, we walked through a small village collecting money and dancing.  I was roped into trying out some Thai dancing with my students.  It was a lot of fun, but it was also very hot! After we returned to our starting point, I asked what we would do next.  Some teachers told me we would go to temple.  Stephanie and I were shuffled into a van with some of her colleagues and we drove along for a while.  We passed many fields filled with trees that were perfectly separated into lines.  I had noticed such trees before and we took this time to ask someone about them.  It turns out they are rubber trees; Hat Yai is a big manufacturer of rubber.  As we pulled down a dusty road, I noticed many towns people gathered together along with our students.Everyone piled out of the van, Stephanie and I were left standing on the side of the road quite confused.  She went off to find some of her colleagues and I settled in with my camera.  I noticed some older women ahead of our students, they were also in traditional dress.  Over the next ten minutes, there was another procession leading up to the temple.  It was a very basic and simple temple complex with a pagoda, a few buildings, and many white chairs underneath a tent. After the long line of villagers and students proceeded through into the temple complex, Stephanie and I were hurried down to where food was being served.  There was an amazing buffet of Thai food and I enjoyed it all while taking in the scenes.  Some students ate as others passed around food, drinks, and washed dishes.  I tried an incredible dessert of red rice/wheat with coconut milk.  It was extremely delicious.  At this time, I found out that basically we would wait up under the tent and sit for an hour or two until noon.  Then there would be another procession around the Chedi.

I sat with my teachers under the tent, avoiding the bright sunlight, watching the locals enjoy one another’s company.  The kids ran around giggling and cooling off with drinks.  Teenagers hung back and chatted.  The elderly sat close to the offering, drinking water, and leaning in towards the few fans.After some time passed, the older woman dancers lined up.  As a gong blared and a beat arose from drums, they danced around the Chedi.  Behind them came the villagers, the school’s dancers, band, students, and teachers.  Together they danced around the Chedi three times.  I joined them on the last two rounds and we laughed and danced together.  The offerings were then moved into one of the buildings and our director went to formally offer it to the monks, who surely blessed it and chanted.  I later found out that our school and the local villagers raised 80,000 baht for the temple, which is nearly $2,500.  I felt very proud to have been involved in such a celebration.  I was taken aback by how helpful and invested the students were in helping raise money.The day ended rather early and I was offered a ride back to the school.  Of course, not before a stop at P Juliette’s home and sister’s noodle shop.  We enjoyed noodle soup in mostly silence as I reflected on the day.

On Sunday evening, Stephanie and I set out on my motorbike to find Hat Yai Municipal Park.  We had heard this is where many people gather to celebration Loi Krathong.  This celebration is very similar to the one I celebrated in Laos with my “family” in Savannakhet.  Along the way, I stopped to buy a krathong, and fondly remembered making mine with the locals at Ping’s home.We easily found the park as traffic gathered on the road from many people parking and crossing the street.  We parked the bike and followed the crowds.  Soon we were along the water and watching as families, farang and locals alike, lit their krathongs and sent their wishes and worries along.  With a festive feel all around me, I happily lit my candle and incense as I thought on my wishes.  I slowly watched it float away and blend in with the many other floating krathongs all along the water. Stephanie and I wandered around the park a little more, discussing our own spiritual and religious beliefs.  I took in the scenery: noting the smells of food and incense, the laughs of children, the flickering candles, and the warmth I felt within.I enjoyed the weekend and reminded myself that these experiences were why I had left everyone and everything I love and know… to find moments of joy and wonder through the lens of another culture.

I should start by stating there is no “typical day” teaching in Thailand. Every day when you get to school something has changed or is different; this is especially true right now as the entire country is on edge with the recent elections and continuing protests. Also, my “typical day” has a few things that are strikingly different than many of my peers that also teach in Thailand in other provinces. However, hopefully this will give you some idea of what to expect in your day-to-day life at work.

I begin by waking up and having some instant coffee and maybe a slice of bread for breakfast. I am not a morning person, so I am often rushing out the door with my bag half packed and other things in my hand. I jump on my scooter by 7:20am and start my 25-minute commute to school. This is one of the biggest differences I have found between my job and others. Most other foreign teachers live very close to their schools, many walk or jump on a songtaew (Thai public bus) for a short ride. However, I live in Hat Yai city and my school is in a village called Thunglung about 20 km outside of the city. I made the choice to live in the city and commute to work instead of living in the village. There are pros and cons to this decision, but in the end, I do not mind the drive because I have already listened to about 8 books on my smartphone in a few short months.

I arrive at work by 7:50am and greet students and teachers with many “Sawatdee kaas” and nods. I head to my office to drop my belongings off before assembly starts at 8:00am. I am required to attend assembly, which can last up to 30 minutes, but sometimes it is shorter. There have been a few mornings I was greeted by another Thai English teacher with the statement of “This morning you speak to the students about….” Five minutes is about as much warning as I have received, so having a smartphone with easy access to wifi has helped in those situations where I needed to talk about the history of Christmas or the importance of Children’s Day in Thailand.

After assembly finishes, I again rush to my office to get my belongings for the upcoming classes. On a good day, I only teach 4-5 classes and on a bad day, I teach 7! I have found this is another big difference between my fellow foreign teachers and myself. I teach a total of 25 periods a week and within these periods I teach a total of 31 classes. Some periods mix together two or three classes to ensure that I teach every single student in the school. This is quite mindboggling to me still, I see over 900 students, once a week, for 50 minutes and I am expected to help them learn English. Most other English teachers I know teach between 18-22 periods a week, but know that most contracts indicate you can teach up to 25. Be sure to advocate for yourself though, I initially had 28 periods and informed my agent. My agent communicated with P Juliette, a Thai English teacher, the director of the school, and the head of the English Department. They fixed the problem of me having 28 periods promptly… but the solution was to just put more classes together. So in the end, I just made my class sizes larger, but at least I have a few more free periods to plan and breath.

As I was saying, after assembly I head to my first period class for the day. I do not have a curriculum, any English books, or any specific topics to teach. On my first day of teaching I was told to help students with conversational English and pronunciation. I inquired about their prior lessons from the previous foreign teacher and the lessons they were learning from the Thai English teachers. I was not provided with any insight into their proficiencies or what topics had already been covered. Instead, P Juliette told me the ages of the students (they range from 12-21 because I teach at a high school and college) and which classes I could teach the same lessons to. Basically I teach one very basic speaking lesson to my youngest 5 classes. Then I teach a different basic speaking lesson, with more interesting topics to the rest of the high school classes. This means I teach the same lesson 18 times in one week! I then teach a different speaking lesson on the same topic but with more difficult vocabulary to the college classes. So in the end, I only have to create three lessons plans a week and this is quite manageable. The challenge is implementing these lessons to all the classes and creating appropriate tests relating to the topics.

In a productive class, I do a quick word game to engage the students and allow the stragglers to enter before the lesson begins. Then I quickly go through attendance and few students are absent. I present the vocabulary for the lesson and the students work on producing the appropriate sounds and giggle when I over annunciate /ch/ or /r/. Maybe a third of the students copy the vocabulary and dialogue into their notebook. Then we move onto practicing this vocabulary with a question and answer dialogue. The students pick up on this quickly and we toss around balls marked “Q” and “A” to elicit the conversation. Most students have an opportunity to ask or answer once in the dialogue before class is nearly over. I grab back the balls and lead the students in a group Q and A series. Then either I assign some homework to reinforce the vocabulary or we play another quick word game. However, usually the bell rings before any of this can happen and I have to rush off to the next class. This repeats in each class.

Some are less productive and in these classes the majority of the students skip class or come very late. When I finally take attendance after 15 minutes, only a handful of students are present. Then as I present the vocabulary, it is very difficult to encourage the students to say the words and stop working on other homework, talking to their friends, or playing on their smartphones. No one has their English notebook, let alone a pen, so we move on after I have presented all the vocabulary. It is even harder to elicit the dialogue without feeding the students the language word by word. However, at least they catch the ball and repeat after me. Usually the balls get thrown out the window or into a friend’s head, but at least they are attending. Before more than 5 or 6 students ask or answer a question, the bell rings and I lose any attention that I had. At this time, I just collect my things and tell them there will be a test next week so they should copy the information off the whiteboard.

Around 11, sometimes not until 12, I am free to have lunch. I walk through the campus and across the railroad tracks to the canteen. Along the way, many students call out “Teacher Laura” and gesture to ask, “You eat rice?” I maneuver through the crowds in front of the kitchen stalls and find my favorite food vender. She’s very sweet and helps me practice ordering in Thai. For just 30 baht, I typically get a plate of rice and three different dishes on top. I get a mix of chicken and vegetable dishes; sometimes I am adventurous and let her choose for me. Other days I splurge and spend a bit more to get Som Tam (green papaya salad). Most days other teachers eat at the same time as me, even if some of the English teachers are there, they talk amongst themselves. I sit and listen as I eat, sometimes I can pick up a word or a phrase and I catch someone’s eye. We share a smile and then the conversation resumes. I do not mind this, as I usually want to finish eating quickly so I can finish preparing for the rest of the day.

I finish my afternoon classes, much as the morning ones, but by the afternoon most of the students are even less interested and engaged. On top of their exhaustion, I am usually quite tired of teaching the same lesson, so my patience has worn thin. Typically my last class finishes at 2:30 and I was very fortunate to have my agent arrange for me to be able to leave after my last class each day. Other teachers have to remain at their school until 4. I think because of my heavy workload, I am able to leave early. Most days I will spend at least a half hour in the office: grading tests, marking homework, lesson planning, or recording attendance in the books.

To demonstrate how there is no “typical day” when teaching I will give a few examples of what happened just this week at school. On Monday, I was informed I had to cover 2 periods for a Thai English teacher who was absent. I had nothing planned and so had to spend time coming up with speaking games to engage the students for 50 minutes. On Tuesday, a large group of students left for a school trip to Bangkok. I found this out when I went to my first period class and only 9 students were present. They informed me their peers were in Bangkok. My second class had only 3 students! No students even bothered coming to my last period class. I am assuming those that did not go to Bangkok figured they could just skip school because so many students would be absent. There seems to always be something happening that requires the students to miss class: preparing for a performance or Buddhist holiday, attending a seminar with a guest lecturer, traveling, visiting schools to help younger students, studying for competitions, or taking standardized tests.

I am still learning how to adjust to this. It is very difficult to teach a lesson to half a class and then test those students the following week, while still teaching the half that missed the lesson! I am required to administer 7-10 tests throughout the semester totaling to 100 points. I have to create them myself and grade them. Often my desk is filled with stacks of tests and the grade books for my 31 classes. One of the most frustrating aspects of this job is that all students must pass English. They cannot fail, and the students know it. If they fail a test, I have to re-administer the test to them at a later date! I have yet to find out what will happen for the students that repeatedly skip my class.

As this semester is drawing to a close, I have learned some valuable things about teaching in Thailand.

1. The students that want to learn English will attend and try. Their efforts will make you feel appreciated.
2. Have many speaking games in your head to implement at any time.
3. The students will love you, even if they never come to your class.
4. You cannot be prepared for each day, no matter how much you plan.
5. It is equally (if not more) exhausting as teaching in America.
6. Take small moments with your students when you share a laugh or they know an answer and treasure them.

Read more about Laura’s experience teaching English in Thailand on her blog, The Wandering Unicorn.

 

 

 

Monday morning, November 11th, I drove to work on my bike for the first time.  It was a little nerve racking, but also enjoyable.  My commute was shorter by about ten minutes and I was able to listen to a book on my iPhone while I drove.  The night before I had prepared my lessons for the week and I felt my expectations were more realistic.  I was able to make adjustments based on what I had learned the previous week when I was implementing my first lessons.

Upon arriving, I heard from my agent and someone from the agency came to sort out my schedule.  He let me know they would be rearranging my classes to mix some together to ensure I taught fewer periods.  He also said I would not be required to run the English Club and after I finished teaching each day, I could leave instead of waiting until 3:30.  I was worried about having larger class sizes, but at least I would have a bit more time in between lessons to breathe.  Therefore my new schedule had 25 periods with 31 different classes; luckily I can use some of the same lessons.  So each week I only have to prepare three different lessons: 1 for M 4 – 6 and the vocational classes, 1 for high vocational, and 1 for M 1 – 3.  Unfortunately this does mean I have to teach one lesson 17 times!!

During my classes on Monday and Tuesday I found myself losing excitement for the lessons and carrying out the vocabulary practice was very monotonous for me.  However, it was advantageous for these students because I already knew how much time to spend on each portion of the lesson and which sounds they would struggle with on pronunciation.  I have two college classes on Tuesdays, so I was able to do a new lesson.  However, I quickly learned they know the same amount, if not less, English than the younger classes.

Starting on Wednesday I would be seeing my classes for the third time.  It took a long time for the office to make copies of the worksheets I had previously created, so instead of using them as production activities they became a test.  I knew it would be important to revisit the vocabulary and ideas I had presented the previous week, so I created some games to reinforce them before giving the test.  Some of the students really enjoyed them, while others chose to be disengaged.  With one game, the students threw around a ball while I played music.  When I stopped the music, I would ask the student holding the ball a question and he/she would have to answer.  I used a popular Thai song that I often heard playing in the streets or at bars and the students appreciated it.  Another involved them having to rearrange words into a question and answer dialogue.  After giving and correcting the first few tests, I realized how much the students copy from one another.  With nearly 40 students in some classes, it is impossible to prevent them from copying.  Also, since they can speak another language they can tell one another the answers without me understanding.  It was a little disheartening because this prevented me from really assessing who understood and who did not.Thursday was very difficult.  I know it will be my hardest day each week.  By my fifth class, I have M 1/1 and they are 13 years old.  It is a very large and rowdy group.  My last two classes are M 2/1 and M 2/2.  It is interesting how extremely different these two groups are even though they are the same age.  M 2/1 stays on task, write in their notebook without being asked, and all participate. M 2/2 students mostly goof off, laugh, mess around, and have to be told repeatedly to write in their notebooks.  I need the most patience for these afternoon classes, but I am so exhausted as it’s the end of the day and the end of the week.  I really need to figure out a way to have more energy with them and how to make the lessons interactive to elicit more English from them.

All these tests, meant a lot of grading.  Before I graded, I had to write all the students’ names in the grade books.  This was a bit difficult because I had a list of their names in Thai.  The students had to write their names in English.  Many of them pulled out their ID cards to copy or flipped to the front of their book.  A few students handed me their pen and said their Thai name… expecting me to phonetically write it.  Oye.

Friday was very hard for me personally.  All week students and teachers had been talking about the upcoming Saturday.  The school would be doing a parade and marching to a local temple to raise money for the monks.  Many students skipped class to prepare in various ways: practicing dancing, collecting money, decorating donation containers, etc.  Friday afternoon my last two classes were very disengaged.  My last period class was meant to take their test.  The students arrived 15 minutes late, were slow to start the lesson with me, and when there was 10 minutes left I was about to hand out the test.  They all protested saying they had to go to the temple right then.  I tried to administer the test anyways and explain that they still had 10 minutes, but it was a losing battle.  I ended up walking out very frustrated and went to the bathroom to cry.  I felt misunderstood and like they were taking advantage of me.  I went to my office and saw that students were beginning to gather around in the assembly area, however not all the classes were there and it confirmed my suspicion that they just used it as en excuse to end class with me early.  I explained the situation to one of the Thai English teachers, but she just responded with “Never mind.”  So, I tried to shrug it off and went down to see what was happening.It turns out that monks were visiting to lead the school in a prayer and to accept their offerings of money and other items.  I had no idea this would be happening (I have no learned I am rarely informed of happenings at the school, so I ask a LOT of questions now), but went along with the flow.  I watched as the students sat quickly inside the open space near the stage, and I situated myself near the other teachers in chairs.  The students that do not practice Buddhism were sent upstairs to the library to wait for the service to be over.  It is very interesting how often Buddhist rituals are carried out at the school.  Even though all the teachers and students are not Buddhists, it is still a large part of the school community.For the next hour and a half, I watched as the monks, teachers, and students chanted.  It was interesting to watch and I was grateful to be a part of it.  The students seemed appreciative of my participation as well.  They waved and smiled when the monks took a break from chanting.  After the monk blessed us all with water, the event finished up.  P Juliette invited me to join the students the next morning as they marched through a village and to collect money and give their offerings at a local temple.  This is the Kathin Festival, which coincides with Loi Kratong.  I agreed to meet her around 7am at the school.

 

This post may apply to many countries in Southeast Asia, I have just become intimately close with Thailand.  I have been here for five months with a few weeks in Laos.  This list began as things I was “getting used to” during my first few weeks in Thailand.  It then developed into what you will undoubtedly experience if you spend a significant amount of time in Thailand.  Some of these things I will miss when I leave, others… I most definitely will not.

1. Instant coffee.  My love of coffee is very deep-seated and developed around the young age of 12.  I can still remember drinking my first Coffee Coolatta before a soccer game and loving it.  I am grateful that Thailand is better than Ghana in that I can at least find an iced Americano at some cafes.  However, the most affordable and readily available coffee is instant.  If you are real lucky, you can get a vender to make you black coffee, but usually it comes milky tan filled with condensed milk and sugar.  There is even instant 3-in-1 mixes.  These packets contain more sugar than any other ingredient.  I have also come to truly believe in the placebo effect.  I drink instant coffee every morning and I am almost positive there is no caffeine in it.  I have tricked my mind into associating the taste of coffee with caffeine, so it helps wake me up.  On the days that I splurge and get a Starbucks, I can instantly feel the caffeine racing through me.  I cannot wait to be reunited with my Keurig machine when I get home.

2. Dirty feet and hands.  I wear flip flops everywhere.  I occasionally wear my Toms, but most days when I am not working I am in flip flops.  Somehow my feet are disgustingly dirty at the end of every day.  I wash my feet in the bathroom every night before bed, if I’m really tired I will do that above all else.  Most days I wake up and they are still dirty.  I have just gotten used to it.  What is harder to adjust to is dirty hands.  Hand soap is very rare to come by in public restrooms, including at work.  Hand sanitizer just doesn’t cut it, especially hand sanitizer bought here.  It has a lot of alcohol and leaves my hands feeling sticky.

3. A range of emotions about soi cats and dogs.  Whether you are a cat lover or a dog lover or neither… you will experience everything from love to hatred for the strays that roam the streets of Thailand.  I fell in love with a kitten in Hua Hin in September.  We named her Storm and visited her often.  Then there was the puppy in Trang that followed a group of us down a street and all the way into 7-11.  There have been a few encounters where I feared for my safety: like in Laos when Kristy and I had to bark back at the soi dogs to scare them away.  Or when I had to kick at a stray as he dug his teeth into my skirt.  One of my friends had a motorbike accident because a soi dog ran out in front of him.  But yet another friend buys dog treats and keeps them in his pocket to give to dogs throughout our city.  My heart still breaks every time I walk through the night markets and see precious puppies and kittens in cages.  Their fate is inevitable: they will be bought and once they grow older, they will be abandoned by their owners.  XploreAsia is working on a program to educate Thai’s on pet care and the importance of having dogs vaccinated.  It was with Jaco on a soi dog feeding adventure that I first experienced the mass amounts of stray dogs in Thailand.  We spent over an hour driving around to feed them before going to a dog shelter that was struggling to provide for its inhabitants: it’s a memory I will not forget.

4. The amazingness of 7-11.  These convenience stores litter the streets of most Thai cities, towns, and villages.  This is not a shop I would visit for really anything in America, rather I would get gas at a gas station and most other small items from CVS.  I quickly fell in love with 7-11 for it’s quickly accessible food, candy, drinks, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, and pretty much anything else I needed.  I was intrigued to find out you can top up cell phones there, as well as buy alcohol (except between the hours of 2:00pm and 5:00pm).  Most recently I bought my plane ticket to Bangkok on the Nok Air website.  I was amazed that I was able to pay for my ticket at 7-11!  You really can do anything there, and their food is pretty good!   

5. Bug bites.  You will get bug bites, whether you use insect repellent or not.  You will get some weird type of bug bite or reaction at some point.  You will think you are dying of a weird disease, but it will go away.  Just ask my new friend Pawan who ended up at two different hospitals in Trang to have a blister popped that formed because a bug bite got infected.  Or my other friend who had a parasite crawling through her pinky toe.  If you are a scratcher like me, you’ll also have a plethora of scars on your legs from all the bites.  I will spare you pictures of this.

6. Squat toilets and carrying your own toilet paper.  If you are lucky, there will be a bin in the bathroom for you to throw away your toilet paper.  Sometimes, you are not so lucky and you have to walk around with it until you find one of the few trash bins placed throughout the country.  Kristy and I often joked about how much skill it takes to use these toilets and avoid getting your feet wet.  If you are struggling, there are many websites to help you learn how to use one!

7. Drinks and meals.  They take forever to come, especially if you order some type of Western food.  Thai food always arrives first.  If you are eating with friends, give up on being polite and eat when your meal arrives.  No-one will mind and they would do the same thing.  Sometimes my friends have cleared their plates as I am just being served my food.  You quickly learn to be patient.  As for your drinks, they usually cost as much as your meal.  Do not be surprised to pay only 50 baht for a meal and 60 baht for an iced tea.  Also, drinks come with the meal.  This is something I still cannot get used to as I like to enjoy my drink while I wait for my food.  Either way, try new food and drinks.  You cannot know what you will like if you only have the same two dishes.

8. Falling off a scooter.  If you rent or buy a scooter or motorbike, you will fall off.  You will have an accident.  Whether it’s a soi dog running out in front of you, a pot hole, another motorbike sneaking up beside you, or the torrential rain.  Something will happen and cause you to have an accident.  Wear your helmet.  I have been lucky to only sustain minor injuries in my two accidents.  The first happened as I was going over the railroad tracks in the pouring rain.  My legs were bruised and scraped, but I was fine.  The second was worse.  A Thai driver quickly put on his blinker and pulled to the left side of the road where I was driving.  I slowed as much as I could, but ended up hitting the edge of the road and the bike went down the hill.  I went flying forward.  My shoulder is still sore from the impact, but my wounds have healed.  I now sport a few “Thai tattoos” as most farangs call these scars.  Everyone of my fellow farang teachers throughout the country have some story to tell about when they fell off their bike.                                                                     

9. Speaking Thai.  You will quickly learn that greeting people with a wei and “Sawatdee kaa” goes a long way in building a relationship with Thais.  The second most useful words are “Khop khun kaa” to say “Thank you.”  Thai’s will never correct you when saying these two phrases, but you can guarantee they will correct you on most other words, especially to fix your intonation.  So many conversation with my students have gone like this:

Me “Bpid sa mut” (open your notebook).

Student: “Bpiiid sa moot” (sounding just like I said).  

Me: “Bpiiid sa moot” (trying to replicate their words).  

Student: “No, Bpiiid sa moot” and so forth.  

My other favorite conversation is with tuk-tuk drivers:

Driver “Where you go?”  

Me “Napalai.”  

Driver “Arai na?” (What did you say?)

Me “Napalai.”  

Driver: “No, no.”  

Me” “Napalai, big condo, tall” (gesturing with hands).

Driver “Ohhhhh, Napalaaaai.”

I just keep trying, but I realize I will never be able to hear or produce the five intonations of the Thai language.  Similarly, my students will never be able to hear or produce the /ch/, /sh/, or /th/ sounds.  At least we are in it together!

Now at this point, you may be thinking about how unattractive these nine things may seem.  Instant coffee, dirty body parts, peeing in a hole, inevitable injuries… I know, but please take into consideration the tenth thing you will also experience.

10. The amazing kindness and generosity of Thai people.  There have been so many times I was beyond grateful for Thai people that have gone out of their way to help me.  One time, a group of us were walking up to the Hat Yai Municipal Park.  We quickly realized it was quite a ways up and we were on the road, not the foot path.  Cars kept driving by us and sweat poured off us as we huffed and puffed.  Suddenly, a man driving a pickup truck pulled over.  He waved us into the back of his truck and drove us up to the top of the hill.  I was ecstatic and we laughed the whole ride up about how it would have been another hour’s walk.

When you befriend a Thai person, they will invite you to dinner.  This might be at their home, a restaurant, or a friend’s home.  I met Lek at a small restaurant on my second week in Hat Yai.  My roommates and I stumbled into a restaurant and we wandered around to find somewhere open to eat.  She helped us order and began to speak some English with us.  We exchanged information and formed a fast friendship.  I met up with her a few more times.  One night she picked me up and brought me to her friend’s house.  Her friend shared food with us and she was so thoughtful because she made french fries, along with chicken feet and a liver dish. Lek then took me to the club her husband owns and treated me food and beer all night as we danced to the live band.      

Then there are the multiple times I have desperately needed help with my scooter.  Like the time I ran over a nail on my ride home after a weekend away with my school for English Camp.  I was at least 15 km away from Hat Yai and it was nearly 4:00pm on a Sunday.  Miraculously there was a truck that was stopped right in front of me when I pulled over.  Without even thinking twice he walked over to me, looked at the tire, and gestured for me to put it in the back of his truck.  Together we lifted it up and tied it in.  He then drove me towards Hat Yai looking for a place that was open to service the bike.  When we found somewhere, he talked to the worker, told me the price and refused to accept any money.  He just smiled and drove off.  Of course with my luck, the same tire blew out only two days later.  I brought it into a service center close to Napalai.  With much gesturing and my limited Thai, I was able to negotiate with them to fix my tire.  It turned out that the valve stem had snapped off the inner tube.  They laughed with me and a few short minutes later, it was fixed.  It was not even a week before the front tire went flat.  As I rolled it into the service center, Nattaporn and his friend laughed.  They took the tire apart and showed me the holes in the inner tube and tire from where it had worn down.  I had to replace both parts.  Wouldn’t you know only a few days later, the same thing happened to my back tire.  We just laughed again and they happily fixed it.  Of course all of this cost me a ton of money, and it is their job to service bikes, but it was their friendly demeanor that made me feel at ease.                   

And so yes, you will get bug bites and have to use a squat toilet.  You will struggle to communicate with others and you will get frustrated.  But you will also experience why Thailand is called the “Land of Smiles.”  Strangers are willing to help and embrace you, even if you do not ask for help.  All of these experiences, and many more I hope to continue to capture through this blog, are why I love Thailand.  (Watch this video, this song is great!)

It is hard to write these blog posts without reflecting back on all I have learned and experienced since November, but I will do my best.  As I had mentioned, Friday night came quickly and I was extremely tired.  I napped for a few hours at the Teacher House before Raquel and Stephanie convinced me to go into the city with them for the Halloween Party.  We opted to be the Aristocats: I was the white kitten.  We made due with the clothes in our bags and some make-up.  Then we set off to the main road to catch a tuk-tuk… at around 9pm.  Well, there were none.  I can still remember vividly how exposed I had felt with a tube-top on and nothing covering my shoulders.  Many drivers on motorbikes or in vehicles honked their horns.  This is not extremely unusual to me as it happens in Boston as well, but I felt different.  I was embarrassed and very aware that we were standing out and not in a positive way.  We ended up calling our agent and she arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to pick us up.  Those 30 minutes waiting on the side of the road still stands out in my mind even after all these weeks.  I go out in the city now in shorts and a tank top, but it feels different.  The Teacher House was in a smaller village called Ban Phru.  One day during lunch a Thai English teacher told me another Thai teacher mentioned she had seen me in Ban Phru.  I remember flushing red as I smiled and nodded, all the while hoping it was not that Friday night.

After some wrong turns and stopping for help a few times, we arrived at Hive.  I quickly felt at ease as I saw many farangs in costumes much more ridiculous and revealing than mine.  I look back at this night fondly.  It was the first time I met most of the people I am now friends with and spend my weekends with.  It is funny that it took weeks for me to realize who was who and often mid conversation I would shout “Oh yeah! You were _________ at Halloween!!”  I am very glad I went and it was just what I needed to prepare me for all the hard times ahead of me that week.  I am most grateful for a late night exchange of information between myself and four foreigners I had met earlier in the week on a songtaew.  They just arrived in Hat Yai as well.  Kate and Lisa are sisters from South Africa; while Jon and Kevin are friends from New Jersey.

Saturday afternoon, our apartment at Napalai Place was ready for us to move into.  I packed up my backpack and wondered what it would be like to live in one place for months after backpacking for two months.  Our apartment is really luxurious compared to others I have seen in Thailand.  It is a condominium complex complete with a gym, lap pool, restaurant, coffee shop and convenience store.  My rent is only about $165, including utilities!  Once we dropped our bags off, we knew we had to go to Tesco to buy everything from sheets to toilet paper to utensils.   After a few hours, lots of groceries, two pizzas and one full tuk-tuk, we went home to unpack and settle in.  My mom always said if you have your bathroom clean and your bed made, you can do everything else later.  So I made my bed, rinsed down the bathroom, and fell asleep.  Sunday we explored the local department store complex called “Diana.”  It has some clothes stores, a grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants, and even a movie theatre on the top floor.  That day I think I visited Diana four different times until I had everything I needed for the weeks and months to come.  Here’s a peek at my apartment and the incredible view outside my window.

That evening I settled at the kitchen table and began lesson planning for the upcoming week.  I decided to start with lessons on occupations for the majority of the classes, and technology lessons for the college students.  I learned so little about their proficiency after our quick lessons last week, so I opted to start with some simple positions and skills associated with them.  I tried to take into account some of the jobs students mentioned last week.

Monday morning, Stephanie and I left around 6:45am in order to arrive at work by 7:45am.  We walked about 15 minutes to the main road, then caught a songtaew and rode it for about 40 minutes until we arrived at school.  The reality of commuting 45 minutes to an hour everyday became quite overwhelming.  My agent had said my school was only about 30 minutes away from Hat Yai city… I made the mistake of believing her.  As the week went on, I decided I definitely needed to rent or purchase a scooter to drive to and from school.

On my Monday schedule I had four classes, I went through the same introduction dialogue with all my classes.  Around lunchtime, P Juliette told me I would be doing an English Club in the afternoon from 2:30-3:20.  She briefly explained that it would be to play games, be social, and enjoy speaking English. My schedule was now up to 28 periods a week, this felt like a lot and more than I had expected to be teaching.  I had no plan for an English club, so we just spent the time learning each other’s names and sharing about our families.  I quickly realized these girls, although eager to learn English, knew very little.  During the rest of my free time that day I browsed the Internet and prepared materials for Wednesday’s lessons.

Tuesday came and went without much change.  I did take the advice of a fellow farang teacher that has been a teachers in Hat Yai for over a year.  He suggested creating a Facebook account to use with my students and colleagues.  He explained how sometimes he will get posts or messages from students and it is an opportunity for them to practice their English.  Some students are too shy to use English in class, Facebook gives them a computer to hide behind and google translate at their fingertips.  I made a new account and simply named myself “Laura Thailand.”  In the days to come, I shared this information with my students and the friend requests quickly accumulated.  Although there was one awkward moment when I offered my Facebook information to one of the college classes.  Heem called out “No… Fake Facebook.”  I was immediately mortified, but recovered by trying to convey that if he worked hard and practiced English with me over the next few months, I would give him my real Facebook account when the term endedWednesday was the first day I would be implementing my actual lessons plans.  I created them around the TESOL teaching theories incorporating direct methodology and the communicative approach.  However, the majority of the lessons included a lot of drilling and repetition.  I can clearly remember standing at assembly, fumbling with my fingers as I thought of all the things that could go wrong:  the students would be horribly bored, the students would not participate, the students would laugh, the students would not listen, the students would walk out, and the list went on.  As I look back now, I am so grateful that I implemented the lesson for the first time with my Wednesday classes.  They are my most attentive and engaged students.  They genuinely enjoy English class and all the students come to each class.  I am grateful for them because I was able to leave Wednesday afternoon feeling successful and with a huge smile on my face.  Due to the timing of the classes, I was only able to really help the students pronounce the key vocabulary words and elicit 1-2 dialogue couplets.  I had two games planned to start the class and end the class.  With a few of the classes, we did play team telephone and I was able to see the true Thai competitive side.  The students went out of their way to cheat in order to win.  Although it was not completely successful, we ended each class with laughs and excitement.  Jaco’s voice was echoing in my head telling me that you need to end class this way so the students are eager to return the following week.

Thursday was extremely exhausting.  Not only do I have my youngest students, but I also have 7 classes with only one break for lunch.  It was challenging to manage M 1/1 because it is a large class of 12-13 year olds, most of whom are boys.  It was hard to get them to listen, but it was great to see them respond to the obstacle course.  I quickly began to figure out which classes would be able to successfully complete my lessons, and which classes I would have to adjust the lessons for to better suit the needs of the students.That weekend was exciting as I bought my scooter!  It was very expensive, even in American dollars.  However, I felt more comfortable buying a slightly used scooter from my agent’s cousin rather than renting one from a stranger.  The plan is to sell it back in March.  My first ride home after picking up the bike Friday was quite an adventure.  I had to go about 10 km into the city and it was during one of the first rallies by the supporters of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee.  Among hundreds of Thais on motorbikes, waving flags and blowing whistles, I had to navigate the crowded Route 4 to Napalai Place.  As I pulled into the garage of my condo, I was relieved to have made it home safely and decided if I could maneuver through that, I would be alright driving to work everyday.

To celebrate our first week in the apartment, Raquel, Steph, and I treated ourselves to some wine and card games.  We laughed and enjoyed each others’ company.  As Sunday came, I was again hit in the face with the reality of work.  Although I’m living abroad and traveling, I have come to dread Sunday nights again, as I know every teacher does:  they are filled with lesson planning, grocery shopping, and laundry.

Wow, what a monumental week this is… it marks four months in Thailand (well in Southeast Asia), two months in Hat Yai, my ninth week of teaching, and the start of 2014.  Sunday, October 27th, I left Don Det on a long boat, then Kris and I took a bus to Pakse.  Then we took another bus from Pakse directly to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.  Upon arriving there Sunday night, we luckily got tickets for bus to Bangkok that night.  After waiting for three hours, we took the overnight bus and then had a typical Thailand taxi adventure to Hua Lamphong railway station at 6 in the morning.  Here Kris and I hung out for a few hours together, then he left for his hotel and I spent hours alone in the station waiting for my train at 3:10pm to Hat Yai.  It was some serious long travel to get from Southern Laos to Southern Thailand.

Upon finally arriving off the train in Hat Yai at 10:00 am, my agent Chonthira met me at the station.  It was Tuesday, October 29^th and she wanted to bring me to the school that afternoon.  I initially said it would be all right after I had napped because I had been traveling since Sunday.  After we ate lunch, we went to the Road Experience “Teacher House.”  This is a home that doubles as an office and space for teachers to tutor.  There are three bedrooms upstairs; this is where Raquel had been sleeping for the last week or two.  Chonthira let me know there was another teacher, Stephanie, who was placed in Hat Yai through XploreAsia.  She had found an accommodation for the three of us, although I was not planning on having roommates, I agreed to see the accommodation that night when they came home from work.  I napped at the teacher house and when I woke up, Chonthira gratefully told me we could go to the school tomorrow so I could continue to rest.  I was very relieved.  I knew the school had wanted me to start on Monday and I figured if she brought me to the school, they would put me right into a classroom.  I was mentally not prepared to start teaching after such an amazingly lazy time in Laos.

Later that afternoon, Raquel and Stephanie came home from work.  Raquel and I spent some time catching up, and then we went to look at the accommodation.  I found out from Chonthira that my school, Songsaeng Commercial School and Technological College, is about 20-30 minutes from the city.  She said she could find me accommodation closer to the school, but stressed that there was not much around and the place she found was a very good price.  It turned out to be a room in a large condo complex.  Initially, I was turned off and really wanted to be closer to school and live alone.  However, I also knew that many other people in my group struggled to find accommodation.  In some cases, their agents did not even show them any places.  I knew I had to be flexible.  The condominium was huge, we could see it as we pulled into the city.  We soon found out that it has a restaurant, a convenience store, and a coffee shop.  The sixth floor has a gym and outdoor pool and we can get a discounted membership price.  This was not exactly what I pictured I would be living in while I was in Thailand… however, one of the main things I want to achieve on this trip is to let go of my expectations and take things as they come.  We were brought up to two rooms to see, only to find out that there were only two bedrooms in each.  Chonthira seemed to think having two of us share a room, and bed, for five months would not be an issue.  After some confusion, a lot of explaining and questioning, we found out that a room with three bedrooms would be available on November 1^st.  Raquel and Stephanie were very anxious to leave the teacher house and I had the feeling the agency was not very interested in showing us other accommodations.  So we agreed to take the place, sight unseen, on Friday.  After spending a few nights sleeping at the teacher house with a few other teachers and a very unkempt bathroom and kitchen, I began to get excited about moving out onto our own.  In the meantime, I started working!Jane, another employee at the agency, drove me to Songsaeng Technological College Wednesday morning.  We arrived around eight as the morning assembly began.  I was introduced to P Juliette, who speaks English quite well, and a few other teachers.  P Juliette handed me my schedule, written in Thai, and I saw a lot of teaching blocks marked.  We moved into a room to better introduce ourselves and so I could have my list of questions answered.  I learned that P Juliette is one of three Thai teachers that teach English.  There was a foreign teacher here last semester named Emma.  As I began to ask about the logistics of my schedule, P Juliette explained that I had 25 teaching periods (even though 27 were marked) and that I would be teaching many different classes.  Each period is 50 minutes and class sizes vary from 20-50.  I inquired about the students’ ages and proficiencies.  She began by explaining that this was a “regular school” as well as a college.  Therefore I would be teaching from ‘Prathom 1 to 6’ and students in vocational school and high vocational.  My mind immediately began to race.  I was hardly able to understand that I would be teaching students ranging from age 6 (grade 1) to 20 (college students).  Each class I would see only once a week.  Then P Juliette continued on with more information than I could process:

• I have to grade the students and create/give my own tests that score 10 or 15 points.  The total score needs to add up to 100 by the end of the semester.
• I need to give 2-3 tests, totaling to 30 points, before December 18^th.  I would then need to present the grade books and scores to the headmaster.
• I have to fill out a grade book for each class and write their names in English in them all.  I was handed a huge stack of class lists, all with their names in Thai.
• I have no curriculum or standards to follow.  I need to help students to improve their conversational English and focus on pronunciation.  I have to determine the topics to teach on my own.
• I can teach the same lesson to P1-3, a slightly harder lesson for P4-6 & vocational classes, and then the most difficult to the high vocational classes as this is the equivalent to university for them.

I quickly made as many notes as I could in my small book, and of course as she was telling this all to me I thought of 100 more questions to ask.  I tried to make note of them because I was realizing that Jane had given my paperwork to be copied and she was preparing to leave.  Sure enough P Juliette told me I should stay the remainder of the day and meet the students.  She wrote out that day’s classes in English… I had one moment of relief when she wrote M 5/2.  At least I had misunderstood one thing and this would make my life a little easier.  I would not be teaching Prathom classes (elementary), I would be teaching Matthayom (high school).  I began to realize the students would probably only range between the ages of 13-20.  That felt much more manageable and it made more sense why I could teach the same lesson to the older Matthayom classes and the vocational classes.  They are the same age, just on different academic tracks.

Jane left and P Juliette briefly explained the different buildings and which classes were in each.  She showed me our office where the other English teachers work and one Thai teacher that teaches Chinese.  Then as 9:20 came around, she walked me up to her 2^nd period class and pointed down the hallway to show me where my class was waiting for me.  She said she would meet me at 11:50 for lunch in our office.  And so my first day of teaching started.  Just like that.  Sink or swim!  I had M 6/1 first; this is equivalent to seniors in high school.  The first number indicates the grade and the second number indicates the class number.  As I walked into the class, they all stood up and said “Good morning teacher.”  I said good morning in return and froze.  I had no idea what to do, I was not prepared and there were 35 students staring at me… waiting.          I introduced myself by telling them my name, age, and where I am from.  Then I asked them to introduce themselves by saying their Thai name and their nickname.  I wrote each student’s nickname on the board; this was a bit of a challenge because I could not spell some of them.  Also when they pronounce the names they are hard to understand and they do no phonetically pronounce the English words.  Some of the nicknames from the first class were: View, Meaw, Pick, Dream, Lookwad, Mild, and Saw.  However they pronounce “Mild” as “My” and “Saw” as “Sow”.  With such a large class it took nearly the whole lesson to have them all tell me their names.  After I wrote them on the board, I took a photo with my phone and told them I would try to remember their names.  The bell rang and on I went to the next class, M 4/3.  This class was challenging for the sole fact that there were two names I just could not pronounce correctly.  The class laughed every time I said it, and she was mortified.  This class was smaller so I practiced their names more and had them move seats to see if I could remember.  At 11:00 I moved to my third class, M 4/2.  This class was very small with only 16 students, once I learned their nicknames I asked them some other questions.  I found out they’re around 16 years old and what occupation some of them want.  There was a bit of confusion as Panan tried to tell me she wanted to be  a captain.  With some questioning and drawing, I deduced she wanted to be a boat captain.  However, the following class I realized she actually wanted to be an air hostess and she was gesturing a plane, not a boat… but she just agreed with my drawing so I would move on from her!

Class wrapped up at 11:50 and I went down to the office.  I was sweating, my hands were covered in blue ink from the dry erase markers, and I was exhausted.  (Which reminds me, in one class the students were laughing at me.  I assumed it was because of my pronunciation, but finally one girl took out a mirror and showed me how I had blue marks all over my face.  How embarrassing.)  P Juliette was not there, so the two other English teachers told me to go to lunch with them.  The “canteen” is behind one of the buildings, across a railroad track and a street.  There are about six stalls and I was glad to find one with rice and a chicken dish I really like, Gai Pad Krapow.  It is minced chicken with basil and spices.  My lunch is only 50 minutes, so I ate quickly and tried to appear interested as the other teachers all spoke Thai.  Then I had to teach my last two classes.  I had my first college class, HVC 1/2-1/4.  This means it is three classes mixed together, however, they only total to 28 if they are all present.  My last class of the day was M 5/1, it was the largest class with 44 students.  I am pretty sure one of the boys was messing with me as he introduced himself as “Moo Moo.”  The class laughed hysterically, but who was I to question his nickname?!  As 2:30 came, the reality of my new life began to set in.  This is going to be hard and exhausting.  I had to wait until 3:30 when Stephanie was getting out of work.  She works just a few minutes from me at Songsaeng Wittaya School teaching primary and kindergarten students.

That night, Stephanie, Raquel and I went into Hat Yai city to go clothes shopping at a night market.  We all really needed some black and white clothes because we would be wearing them until November 23^rd.  Just before school started a very significant and prestigious monk passed away, to mourn him all public officials must wear black and white; this included us.  We took a songtaew into the city and I began to get a sense of where my school is in relation to the teacher house and the city.

Thursday at work was insane.  I had seven classes, five of which were my youngest students: M 1/1, M 2/1, M 2/2, M 3/1, and M 3/2.  The youngest, M 1/1, were extremely noisy and rowdy.  However, I can still remember leaving work that day with sore cheeks from smiling so much.  The students were all eager to meet me and many called “teacher, teacher” to me as I walked through the campus.  With a few of the classes, I was able to elicit a dialogue from the students.  Most of them appeared familiar with it as I am sure they have had to introduce themselves in English this way before: “My name is _______. I am _______ years old. I come from _________. I live in ___________. My nickname is __________.”  It was helpful to hear them speak some English as they introduced themselves.  I started to feel more confident and was excited to meet the rest of the students in the days to come.Friday I only had five classes, so I was relieved to have a little more time off between classes.  I enjoyed my getting to know the students in M 6/2, 6/3, and 6/4.  They were interested in me and asked questions.  In the final two vocational classes of the week, I made the mistake of referring to the school as “Sangsong.”  This sounds very similar to “Sangsom” which is a blended liquor that is very popular here.  The students found it extremely hysterical, it was quite the freudian slip.  By the end of the day, I had said my introduction lesson nearly 15 times.  I had figured out how to explain to them where I came from, what my job was in America, and how it related to my job now in Thailand.  I think some students understood.  Note my lovely drawing of USA above.

When I got back to the teacher house on Friday afternoon, I was exhausted and not looking forward to moving into our apartment.  However, it had to happen at some point, and at least we would have the weekend to settle in and unpack.  Yet, in typical Thai fashion, we found out we could not in fact move in until the next afternoon.  So we had another night at the Teacher House.  Raquel had heard of a Halloween Party in the city that nearly all the farangs would be attending.  I was so exhausted, I did not want to go, but we decided to venture out and try to make some friends.  This was my first hectic, exhausting, overwhelming, and exciting first week of teaching in Thailand.

Late Sunday morning, we woke up and laughed as we recounted our previous day’s adventures.  Together we wondered if Ping, Sort, and Meow really wanted us to visit again.  We went to Cafe Lin to have another incredible breakfast complete with delicious coffees.  While we ate, we discussed what might happen today with the family.  As we walked down the street towards their house, I was a little nervous because I knew I felt I made a strong connection with them.  However, I did not know for sure if this feeling was mutual.  We walked up to the house cautiously and it was a very different scene.  Ping greeted us and gestured to the chairs situated around a table.  Her mother was sitting on the other side of the room with one of the girls who was being very shy.  Meow and Sort were not around and we quickly felt as though they were not expecting us.

Then Ping brought out food and laid it out in front of us.  She gestured for us to eat as one of her friends came to join.  We were full but knew it was rude not to eat some.  It was not until Rosie ate something that Numnueng grabbed some pork balls.  I had thought she was not hungry because she refused when I told her to eat, but then I realized they would not eat the food until we ate first.  This must be one way to show respect, later in the day I noticed this same situation with the beer they bought us.  Yet when we bought the beer, they helped themselves first.  It is these small moments that I appreciate for helping me to experience and better understand different cultures.

Anyways, we munched on some food and Meow joined us.  I tried to ask them about their jobs and exactly where they lived, but it was pretty hard to communicate these ideas.  Soon Sort joined us, I think she had been working, and out came the small glasses, ice, and Beer Lao.  Kristy and I decided to indulge again as we only live once, right? When I was researching about the festival we participated in the night before, I read there would be boat races and we asked about them; by gesturing rowing a boat.  They agreed to take us down to the river around 2:00 to see them.  While we waited, the girls warmed back up to me and played with my phone and sunglasses.  I braided their hair and we all enjoyed one another’s company.

    Soon we started off down the street towards the river.  The street was just as packed as the night before.  I walked hand in hand with the girls and took in the sights and smells.  After some searching we found a table along the river at a food stall restaurant.  We sat down and of course food and beer was immediately ordered.  I could hear announcements similar to the ones I heard at the boat races in Hua Hin. Suddenly Numnueng was grabbing my arm and pointing.  I looked out to see two boats racing by; she gave me the biggest smile after they passed.  The first plate of food to arrive was dried jellyfish.  They were alright, but since I do not really like the taste of seafood I did not really enjoy it.  Then they brought two bowls of small quail eggs and some soup.  Numnueng grabbed an egg, cracked it, and turned around to me with the small bird fetus and shouted “Ahhhhh.”  I jumped back and cringed as she popped it in her mouth to eat.  You have to love that she knew her eating that baby bird would get a reaction out of me.  The second bowl were non fertilized eggs, so we enjoyed them!  At this point, Kristy and I went to the bathroom and we racked our brains about what we could buy them to thank them.  We tried to think of something to bring that morning, but we were not sure what would be appropriate.  As we were walking back from the bathroom, we saw some bags of popcorn.  We bought two bags and everyone loved it.  They ate it up.  We left shortly after and bought two more bags.

                   When we returned to their house, they poured the popcorn into bowls and shared it with Ping and Meow’s mother and father.  We were so glad they ate it.  I wondered if it was a treat that they do not normally allow themselves.  Although they eat a lot, they always bought food that was for a meal or sustenance.  Perhaps they do not spend their money on sweets.  Kristy and I paid for the next few bottles of beer as well.  We all sat on the mat inside together just laughing, eating, and drinking.  The day carried on and soon we were outside with many other friends and family.  Together we all sat on the floor mat or at the table with music blaring through the streets.  Clearly the festival was continuing today.  Next we ate some plates of fried chicken feet and fried dragonflies.  Again, they were both very delicious!  The dragonflies were not as good as the gee lor from the night before, but we still ate it up.As the sun began to set, we were all dancing in the streets together.  The kids were having an incredible time.  My mouth was hurting from smiling and laughing.  We continued to communicate through “cheers” and our music selections.  Sort, Kristy, and I had a few moments where we all teared up a bit as we thought about our impending goodbye that night.  

Before we knew it, it was nearly 8pm and Meow, Ping, and Sort wanted to take us back to the festival to do some dancing with a live band.  Off we went to the river again, we passed a huge bouncy house and many street games.  We walked up to a large open space with a live band playing Thai music.  Sort grabbed us and we went to dance.  She showed us how to move our hands to the rhythm.  Men kept coming over to us and she kept pushing them away.  She was getting very frustrated with them and was adamant we not even look at them.  I just followed her lead.  Suddenly her husband was there and then the men backed off a bit.  At the end of the song, everyone waied instead of clapping.  Kristy and I quickly picked up on that difference between our two cultures and then waied at the end of the rest of the songs.  We danced for a while and then settled down at a table with the rest of our newfound friends.  I looked around at their faces and saw their exhaustion, I thought about how tired I was and how we had to catch a bus in the morning.  I suggested leaving and they all happily nodded their heads while saying “Ting tong!!”

We slowly walked away from the river, away from the festival, and back towards their home.  In the street we hugged and said a tear-filled goodbye.  It was hard to express our appreciation to them and I am still not sure that they will ever know how much meeting them meant to me.  I still message with Ping every once in a while.  She sends me pictures of her, Meow, Sort, and the girls.  I send her pictures back in reply.  One day, I hope to return to Savannakhet so I can reunite with them.  It has been almost two months since this incredible weekend, and I still remember every moment of it.  If nothing else happened on this round the world trip, I would be okay, because I met this family and I experienced life with them for two cherished days.

After waking up suddenly on the sleeper bus, I realized we were at the bus station in Savannakhet.  I quickly grabbed my things and woke up Kristy and Rosie.  It was about 4:30 in the morning and it was still dark and misty outside.  We stumbled off the bus and told the sole tuk-tuk driver “Leena Guesthouse”.  We piled in, along with some locals, and after a short drive we pulled up to a locked gate.  The tuk-tuk driver honked for a while until someone came to unlock it.  An elderly man welcomed us and gave us keys to two rooms, since the triples were full.  Kristy and I shared a room and Rosie took the single.  I was so grateful that they allowed us to check in at five in the morning.  We all slept for a few hours then showered and prepared to explore the town.  I had read about a small place in town called Lin’s Cafe.  It has incredible food, coffee, and provides tourists with information about Savannakhet and the surrounding areas.  We went there and ordered breakfast and very yummy coffees.  After chatting a bit and relaxing, we agreed to check out the tourist center to inquire about day treks we could do the next day.  We also needed to look into when and where we would take the bus to Pakse on Monday.

As we walked away from Lin’s Cafe, towards the tourist center, we passed a home with music playing very loudly.  There were young women dancing on a floor mat and others sitting around clapping and laughing.  This was not an unusual sight, I smiled to myself and walked past.  Suddenly we heard calls and shouts.  They were calling us to their home.  We all looked at each other, I shrugged and said “Come on.”  And this is how we met Short, Ping, Meow, and their children, siblings, parents, husbands, and friends.  We removed our shoes and stepped into their home.

From this moment on, we were treated as their friends… their family, until our teary goodbye only the next evening.  Quickly we were all handed small cups filled with ice and Beer Lao.  In Laos, they chug beer, or as Kristy says “skull.”  Every time one of the women clinked glasses with us, they waited expectantly for us to finish the glass.  We partook in the merriment and laughter.  We danced and danced.  After a few songs, we exchanged names and laughed at their nicknames; I was not surprised that they were all in their early twenties.  The two girls were very shy, hiding in corners, but enjoying us by taking videos and photos on their mothers’ phones.

As time passed, we were introduced to more family and friends.  Everyone was extremely kind and it did not matter that we could hardly communicate in spoken language.  Instead we communicated with smiles, cheers, and music.  Short loved to hear me whistle to Flo-Rida’s “Whistle” and I loved watching her do “Gangnam Style.” The most English we all spoke was to say “Happy, Happy.”  After we all had shared a few bottles of beers, we realized they went to the store to buy more.  We felt badly and offered money, which they initially refused, but as the night went on they accepted.  At this time, the young girls had warmed up to us and we played ball outside.  I had such a fun time with them, and of course they loved using my phone to take “selfies” and to play Candy Crush.

We moved outside as they brought out some food for us to eat.  The dancing and drinking continued until the sun began to set.  At this time we had worked out the relationship between most of them: the women were sisters and the girls were their children.  We were in their parents’ home, where some of them lived.  The reason for all the celebration was because this weekend was a festival.  By this time there were crates full of empty Beer Laos and we were all a bit “ting tong” as Lao people call it.

At one point, I stepped inside and saw young guys creating small boats out of banana leaves, pins, and the truck of a banana tree.  I settled in next to some of them and gestured to the materials laying on the mat.  They nodded and I started to make my own… well I tried to make my own.  One of the little girls sat with me and giggled every time I rolled one of the leaves.  I thought they looked exactly like hers, but apparently something was not right.

She and the boys helped me create my own float.  After some research, the festival we were participating in was either called Lai Heua Fai or Loi Krathong.  Loi Krathong is typically celebrated during the full moon in November in Thailand, so I did not think it was this festival.  I found out online that they are quite similar in the way that they are celebrated.  Either way, it was magical!  Once my boat was done, I went out to catch back up with Short, Meow, and Ping. Kristy and Rosie also had boats the guys had given them.  We asked if we could go down to the river to put them in, they of course said yes.  We set off down the road, hand in hand.  I literally could not stop smiling.  I was so lucky to be experiencing this with such an amazing group of people.Before we knew it, we were outside of a home.  Our new friends greeted some women, then gestured for us to go inside.  An elderly man was lying in a reclined seat getting a massage and we walked past him to a back room.  I started to wonder where they had taken us and what was expected of us now, were we meant to get massages?  Little did I know they brought us to dinner!  Huddled on the floor around a pot settled upon hot coals sat a group of Laotians.  They welcomed us with open arms, plates full of food, and cups full of beer.  We feasted on buffalo, buffalo fat, gee lor (an insect), greens, and eggs!  I was so hungry I ate everything they put in front of me and was shocked at how much I liked it all, especially the gee lor!  I ate nearly a whole bowl full!

We made more friends, exchanged names and ages, and shared a wonderful meal together.  Again, I could not believe how fortunate I was to be welcomed into their family’s and friends’ homes.  After all our bellies were full and most of us were quite done drinking, we set off towards the Mekong river.  We held hands as our long train of people maneuvered through the crowd.  Short’s husband led us to an opening and helped us down a ledge towards the river.  There Numnueng (one of the daughters) started to grab a piece of my hair, she then started to bite off one of her nails and gestured for me to do the same.  She put the strand of hair and fingernail onto my boat.  Short’s husband lit the candle and three incense sticks on my boat.  I watched as Meow held her boat and closed her eyes.  I gathered I should meditate on it for a moment and make a wish before letting it off into the water.  I did and then opened my eyes to a wonderful site of many lit boats floating off down the river.  We all stood together as we watched others put their boats in the river and listened to the sounds around us.  Kristy and I looked at the time, even though it was only 9:30, we knew we should get home before we were encouraged to stay out drinking for longer with them.  We trekked back up to the crowds and played a few street games to win the kids some stuffed animals.  Well Kristy and Short played, I watched.  Then we said our goodbyes with promises to meet again the next day at noon.  I went to bed with sore cheeks from smiling, a full stomach, and a lifetime’s worth of memories.

Our journey to the capital of Laos, Vientiane, began in a hectic rush.  As we tried to wait patiently for our pickup, I asked Neil for the third time if we should call.  Once the pickup was nearly an hour late, he called the bus company.  Sure enough, they had forgotten us.  A minivan arrived minutes later and quickly sped off.  We started to think we would be riding crazily in this van all the way to Vientiane.  However, after speeding along for about 15 minutes we pulled over to the side of the road and there was our big bus.

We jumped on and within a few hours pulled into the city.  We went right to Sihome Backpackers, suggested by Kris, and unloaded our stuff into our bunk beds.  This was the first time I had a top bunk.  It was a bit interesting, and I was grateful we were only sleeping there for one night!  We went right out to find food and came across a small street restaurant.  As we walked along, I started to wonder exactly where in the city we were located.  The streets were lined with rundown buildings, men doing construction, and minimal restaurants or stores.  After eating, Kristy and I wandered towards the river and came across some large outdoor market.  However it was different than ones we had seen before in Thailand or Laos.

It had stalls upon stalls filled with similar products and people sitting with microphones promoting their products.  For example, there was a stall selling only diapers, another selling only feminine hygiene products… it was bustling with locals and very noisy.  We took a little stroll to take it all in, then headed back to the hostel.  We hung around the hostel, chatted with a named “Steve-o”, that recently arrived in Vientiane three days ago.  He came to this hostel for a drink, talked with someone, found out they needed an artist, then decided to move in and work to help renovate the hostel with new artwork and more.  Kris arrived around eight and we greeted him with excitement and hugs.  It was not long before we brought out the cards and started playing.  At nine there is apparently “free vodka”.  Steve-o brought some over, we mixed it with strawberry fanta… and we were in for a surprise.  I believe it was some type of homemade rice vodka.  It was not nice, but we all “cheers”ed one another and took a moment to appreciate that we were back together.

That night Kristy and I formed one of the best memories.  I still laugh every time I drink beer with ice.  In Laos, there are only two types of beer: Beer Laos and Namkhong.  Kristy likes Namkhong.  After realizing that we were not going to enjoy the homemade vodka, we walked across the street to a shop.  Kristy was asking for Namkhong.  As often happens with Laotians and Thais when we try to speak their language, they repeated the word a few times.  Kristy said yes and then realized that in fact they did not have Namkhong, but they were just saying yes.  So we grabbed some Beer Laos.  Then as we were paying, the woman handed us a plastic bag with ice.  Kristy looked at me and asked if it was for us, I told her no… it was probably for them or something else.  We paid and as we started to walk out, she realized that they had a sad and confused look on their face.  She went back and grabbed the bag of ice.  When we got back to the hostel, we pieced together what happened… she bought a bag of ice because she asked for it!  Namkhong sounds very similar to the Thai word for ice, many people in Laos understand Thai and Lao.  So in the end, Kristy paid 1 USD for a bag of ice.  No wonder the woman looked so sad and confused as we left, why wouldn’t her customer take what she bought with her?!  I love that I can smile about this memory and I am reminded of Kristy often.

The next day, which was also our last day in Vientiane, we set out to see Buddha Park.  It was the one thing I really wanted to do while I was there, I had read about it and knew it would be really cool to see.  As with most things I have experienced over the last two months, the journey there was half the fun.  We took a tuk-tuk, even though we struggled to barter down to a lower price, it was still reasonable.  The road was unpaved, filled with potholes, huge puddles, and village life unfolding before our eyes.  It was also remarkable to drive right along the Mekong, in the distance, across the river I could see Thailand.  We also passed under the Thai-Lao friendship bridge, the first border crossing between the two countries.
After an extremely bumpy one hour ride, my bottom was nearly numb.  The view was awesome. There was a large park filled with Buddha sculptures and images, but I had done some research and knew they were not in fact very old.  They were created to look like older relics.  We walked around and admired the artwork and took a lot of photographs.  One piece was really interesting, it is pumpkin shaped and inside it there are three levels. It is a demon head and one can walk up the stairs through the levels that are filled with sculptures depicting hell and heaven.  At the top, there is a great view of all the surrounding sculptures.  Of course, there is a large reclining buddha, and you would think after seeing all the wats in Chiang Mai I would be tired of Buddha statues… but I’m not!  Below are just some of my favorite pieces.

After walking around the park for an hour, we piled back into the tuk-tuk and had the driver drop us of in the “city center”.  This is marked by a large arch-like monument.  It is called Patuxai and represents the Laotian struggle for independence from France.  It is reminiscent of Parisian architecture.  Ironically it was built with American money that was meant for an airport!  The arches were stunning and I had read it provided gorgeous views of the city.  I really wanted to see this, as I was still confused about the actual beauty of the city.  My short walks around the previous day had not peeked my interest and I was quite unimpressed with the city.  Maybe seeing it from above would change my mind.  However, we were all very hot, hungry, and eager to walk to Pha That Luang.  This is a huge golden stupa that cannot be missed when visiting Laos.  We walked on and arrived just as dark clouds were settling behind it.  We had a chance to take in the beauty of the structure, from outside the gates.  The gates had closed only minutes before.  On the tuk-tuk back we caught a beautiful view of Patuxai and the surrounding park as the sun set.
And that was our trip to Vientiane in less than 48 hours!  It was not very remarkable, I knew two days and one night was plenty of time for me there.  I was happy to have seen what I saw and was extremely excited to move further south.  Next on the list: Savannaket.  I had read (I do a lot of reading online before visiting somewhere, utilizing mostly Wikitravel and Lonely Planet.  Who needs guidebooks these days!?) that it was a very small, quaint village town on the Mekong.  But I had also heard by word of mouth not to bother stopping there.  Not many backpackers visit there, instead they head straight to Pakse.  Yet I was curious to detour, just a little, from the backpacker path.  In hindsight, I cannot even express how grateful I am that I went to Savannaket.  I was not nervous because I had Kristy and Rosie with me.  So around seven that evening, we boarded a sleeper bus and settled into our tiny bunk beds.  I let them share a bed and I got the true Lao experience by sharing with a small Lao woman!  I slept great though and it was certainly an experience sleeping next to a stranger in such small quarters.