As I sit in my apartment on this Monday morning, I figure my time would be better spent updating my blog rather than anxiously watching my laundry dry on my tiny balcony, praying the wind doesn’t send my comforter into the swampy abyss below. And why, you may ask, am I not at school?  While technically I should be beginning my fourth week of instruction, this is actually the third Monday that I have not had class.  The previous two Mondays have been national holidays, Father’s Day and Constitution Day, respectively, and today happens to be the fourth day of Sports Week.  During Sports Week, all classes are cancelled in favor of activities like boxing, soccer, and the ever-frightening fire hockey, in which high school students smack a combustible puck around a grass field while hoards of young spectators watch at an uncomfortably close distance.  Meanwhile, kids back home in the US can’t even play dodgeball in schools anymore.

When I’m actually in the classroom and when my students actually show up (which is turning out to be about 50% of the time), I’ve found that I really enjoy being there and interacting with the kiddos.  But teaching English is a lot tougher than I was anticipating.  I teach in the Intensive English Program, so either the students have a higher proficiency compared to the other students or their parents pay for them to be in the program.  However I’ve discovered that while most students are able to recite what they've heard and notice patterns in language and grammar, their conversational comprehension is very low. In a couple of my classes, there are one or two highly proficient students that are able to help translate what I am trying to explain to the class, but most of the time I find myself using grand gestures and acting out silly scenarios to try to instill the information.  And you'd figure that if a teacher is dancing around the class, deliberately making herself look like an idiot, high school aged students would be raring to make her the butt of every joke.  But for the most part, my kids are very sweet and well-behaved, which I've come to learn is quite unique compared to the other Matayon schools in Chaiyaphum.  Brynne has told me that girls straighten their hair in her class and one day, one of her girls didn't have a skirt on because another student had stolen it! Granted, who knows what my kids actually say about me in Thai, but when they're in my class, where no Thai is allowed, I can get away with a lot of ridiculousness. 

P'Amy introducing me to the entire school, 3500 kids, at morning assembly.  She essentially, jokingly I think/hope?, propositioned me to all the male Thai teachers. I just stood there, looking almost as awkward as the pants I was required to wear.

The boxing event during Sports Week.  These girls are intense! Sports Week is a 6 day competition between a bunch of different schools in the area.  It was fun to see how enthusiastic everyone was about the events.  Originally a couple of us English teachers were standing to the side of the ring, but at one point, one of the school directors invited us to sit on the stage in the VIP area with all the other school directors.

Because of the holidays and school events, I have been fortunate enough to have gone on a couple of weekend trips!  However my first long weekend in Chaiyaphim was filled only with trips to the bathroom... I developed my first case of Thai Tummy (food poisoning).  Though, it wasn't Thai food that knocked me down, but rather pizza! How do I know pizza was the culprit? Well one night at The Pizza Company, Brynne and I shared more than just our name, ordering ourselves a hawaiian pizza and subsequently, a shared stomach bug. 

My first meal post food poisoning.  We found a cute and yummy cake shop not far from our apartment.

My other two weekends have been much more entertaining.  Two weeks ago, I went to Khao Yai National Park with 2 of my friends from Chiang Mai, about a 3 hour bus ride from Chaiyaphum. We stayed in an awesome hostel, had some of the most delicious Thai food yet, and took a beautiful 2 day jungle tour!

The gorgeous Khao Yai Jungle

Brynne, Brynn and Devon (who lives in Korat, about 2 hours from Chaiyaphum)

Leech socks and sandals.  I am really setting all sorts of trends over here

Our Jungle Trekking guide, Ben.  He had a keen eye for spotting wildlife, like the Red Headed Togan and the Gibbon, and would set up his telescope to enable all of us to get a closer look

The Gibbons are facetious little creatures.  While we were trekking through the jungle we could hear them clamoring away but they'd get quiet when they heard us get closer.  Then, they do their best to aim their droppings at us!  Luckily none of us were hit. 

Pretending I'm a gibbon.

 

I loved these trees.

At one point, we ran into a school group in fancy hats.  It was like we discovered a whole bunch of Russells from Up.  "The wilderness MUST be explored! CAW CAW RAWR!"

Waterfall #1

Waterfall #2

Sunset in the park

This was amazing.  Don't mind the terrific quality of this photo. If you look closely, you'll see a couple gray lumps in the middle of the photo.  Those are WILD ELEPHANTS!! Going into the jungle tour, I really wanted to see elephants but the guide told all of us not to get our hopes up because they generally try to steer clear of people.  We went all day without seeing any but just after sundown, as we were leaving the park, our guide pulled over and told us to wait quietly.  A few minutes later, a mama elephant with three baby elephants emerged from the forest.  We were able to sit and watch them until it became too dark too see.  It was such an amazing experience to see these majestic creatures in their natural habitat.

Bobby's Jungle Tour and Apartments was an awesome recommendation by a coworker for our Khao Yai Jungle Trek. 

On the second day we went swimming in a (semi) natural spring. 

We also visited a couple of temples, one of which was a cave temple. 

The ride out to the cave temple

This wouldn't be a proper blog post without a dog picture!

or two.. 

Cave Temple

Another awesome experience that was hard to capture in a photo.  Right after the sunsets in a particular spot in the jungle, millions of bats synchronously leave their caves and go out for nightly meals. As they flew right above us, it looked like a giant snake was slithering through the sky.

Just a couple farangs, overjoyed that they have red cups and holiday flavors at the Starbucks in the Korat Mall.

This past weekend, I went to Bangkok for the final game in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup and Thailand won!  While it was wonderful meeting up with some of my other friends from Chiang Mai, it really made me thankful that I was placed in Chaiyaphum and not anywhere near Bangkok!  I've lived in and experienced the traffic in the Bay Area, LA and Seattle, but nothing compares to the crazy traffic in and around Bangkok.  I felt like I spent the majority of my weekend in a taxi, fearing for my life and the lives of the wild motorbike riders (I would never be brave enough to drive my motorbike on those streets!). But of course, Bangkok does have redeeming features like the beautiful Grand Palace, delicious food, including my FAVORITE mango sticky rice, which does not exist in Chaiyaphum, and super fancy malls. 

Temples at the Grand Palace in Bangkok

I LOVE the mosaics at the temples.  They are so beautiful.

Guards at the Grand Palace. 

Christmas trees outside one of Bangkok's enormous malls!

My friend Lindsay and me at the game

I've also started planning my New Years trip since I will have about 10 days off! I plan to spend a couple days on the island of Koh Chang on the southeastern side of Thailand and then head over to Cambodia for a couple of days.  Planning this trip has somewhat distracted me from the looming Christmas holiday.  This is my first Christmas away from home and while I am definitely sad and know I will feel homesick, it has been heartwarming to see the the effort the people of Chaiyaphum have made to get us into the Christmas spirit.  Christmas is not traditionally celebrated over here, and if it weren't on a Sunday this year, we would be working.   However, my school has put up and decorated Christmas trees and all of the western teachers have been invited to one of the locally owned restaurants for Christmas Eve dinner.  We also will celebrate together on Christmas day at the one western bar in town. Having these special events to look forward to and special people to share them with has really made Chaiyaphum start to feel like home.  As I was leaving Bangkok this weekend, I found myself excited to get back, and I realized I had been slightly homesick for the oddly endearing Chaiyaphum.   

The sunsets here are a special sight. 

Another "special sight." Don't worry, I actually bought a helmet sans-antennas 

Food I've eaten:  

As mentioned above, Chaiyaphum does not sell mango sticky rice ANYWHERE.  I've naturally inquired a lot about this and learned that they only make it when the mangoes are in season, in the summer time. But apparently, since this is Thailand, that begins around February so hopefully I'll be able to get some before I leave.

Chaiyaphum is in the northeastern part of the country, known as Isan, and in addition to having a slightly different dialect than the other regions, it also has a different flair on traditional dishes.  There are a lot more soups than I found in Chiang Mai, especially hot pot, and they are also known for their pork dishes, namely Lap Moo, which is ground pork with herbs and thai spices.  

Each night I go to dinner at the Night Bazaar and pretty much everything I have tried has been delicious.  Besides the lack of mango sticky rice, I've really grown to love Isan food!

Book(s) I've read since my last post: 

The Art of Racing in the Rain (bolded because it is a new favorite) - I love that feeling when you're just going about your normal day and something reminds you of the book you are currently reading.  It may not even be something remotely related to the book, but it somehow conjures up images of the characters or the story line.  I love it because it means the book has penetrated part of your subconscious.  The book, without you being fully aware, has infiltrated your mind in the best way possible.  The Art of Racing in the Rain was the latest book to hold me captive in such a manner.  I found myself daydreaming about the narrator (a brilliant doggo) during my orientation for my agency back in Bangkok about a month ago.  I finished the book on the bus ride to Chaiyaphum, and while I'm sure it was the combination of transporting myself to my unknown new home and being unsure where I would be sleeping that night, I found myself openly bawling at the end.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything - I was late to the game on this one, I think it was popular 5 or so years ago, but I really enjoyed this read.  It seemed a little repetitive and overly detailed at times but it definitely opens up your mind to think differently about everything. 

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Another good read.  RBG really has helped pave the way for woman in public positions of power.  But we still need lots more though! 

The Elegance of a Hedgehog - I had heard such good things about this book ( it's recommend in The Little Paris Bookshop which is one of my favorite books!), but after getting about 20% in, I abandoned it.  I couldn't get into the storyline or maybe it was the writing, but mostly Bill Bryson's At Home, finally became available from the library and I really wanted to start that instead. 

At Home: A Short History of Private Life - This is my current read and I'm liking it so far. It is about the history of the home and domesticated life.  I've learned that good ol' Thomas Jefferson is to thank for inventing French Fries! He really should have included that on his tombstone too!

Settling In

Before leaving for Thailand, I had mentally prepped myself for being all alone in a rural town where I would not be able to converse with anyone in English.  I ensured I had enough books downloaded on my kindle (and also pirated all the Harry Potter audiobooks from the library) to fill my free time.  When I found out I’d be living in Chaiyaphum with two other people from my program (Brynne and Marina), part of me was a little disappointed that this would not be my “own” unique experience.  I would not have all the “struggles” of loneliness I had prepared myself for before I left.  However, after reflecting on it, I think I had things backwards.  I am an introvert and I thrive on being alone.  Very rarely do I feel lonely.  I enjoy sitting and reading books or binging on Netflix for hours and wandering around alone.  But I came to Thailand to grow, and I need to push myself to be more outgoing, to engage with others for knowledge and companionship and provide the same in return.  And not just with the 30 other western teachers that live here in Chaiyaphum, but with my Thai, Chinese, Filipino and Kenyan colleagues and neighbors as well.   I know that for everything I read and learn in books, I can learn twofold more by putting myself out there and interacting with new people of different cultures and backgrounds.  I am so beyond excited for that continued opportunity here in Chaiyaphum. 

My new apartment.  There is no kitchen, but I guess that is the perfect excuse to eat out every meal! 

Apartment pups! I will get to watch them grow up! -heart eyes-

We found a coffee shop in a tree house!

Chaiyaphum City Hall

Sunset photo taken from my 4th floor apartment

The lake near my apartment

Old temple ruins just outside of town

After exploring much of Chaiyaphum on foot for the first couple days, I decided that to truly embrace the Thailand experience, I’d need to get a motor bike.  Everyone drives a bike here and we actually felt less safe walking down the street (because there are no sidewalks anywhere) than we figured we’d would if we were driving a motorbike. For those of you who know me well, or have spent any time with me at all, you know my lack of coordination and ungracefulness is cause for some concern.  But I’ve channeled my inner Macklemore and have begun to gain confidence on the bike.  I’ve learned that there is a very fine line whilst driving between under-confidence, which leads to other drivers dominating you on the road, and over-confidence, which causes stupid mistakes. I am definitely still more cautious than other drivers, and will always remain cautious (I promise, Mom), but I am also having a lot of fun zooming around town. 

We're going to start a motorcycle gang called "Danny's Angels".  When we went to the shop to rent our bikes, we met Danny who graciously taught us how ride, helped us select our bikes and took us on a tour around town.  We found out later that he didn't even actually work at the shop, he just lived in the apartments above.  We then learned that he is a Filipino English teacher at another school, and he gave us the lowdown on all our new schools (each of us is teaching at a different school in town).  He also took us to the one Western Bar in town, "1 Bar" for trivia night where we met a lot of the other western teachers in town.  

My teaching experience thus far feels like I'm living in a dream.  There are multiple times a day where I feel like this can't actually be real life. For example, the other day was exercise day.  Of course, I don't know what occurs on exercise day since I am brand new. Turns out, nobody knows what happens on exercise day and nobody even knew it was exercise day until the day before.  I found out when the spunky Thai director of Foreign Languages, essentially my boss, pulled me (literally pulled me. She likes to affectionately, I think?, walk arm in arm with me) out of the teacher's lounge and told me she was taking me shopping for exercise clothes.  In the middle of the school day.  Luckily I didn't have classes until later in the afternoon.  Ostensibly exercise day was recently mandated by the Prime Minister for all teachers and students to work out together for an hour, which means all classes were cut short by ten minutes.  However when students already arrive 10-15 minutes late anyways because there are no passing periods here, meaning one class ends and the other is supposed to begin at the same time, exercise day basically meant no class.  When we were called down to the auditorium for our exercises (an hour earlier than we were originally told), the teachers spent the first 35 minutes of the hour of aerobics frantically taking photos while 3500 students sat quietly in rows watching mayhem ensue.  Thankfully, I don't consider myself type A, because if I did, my brain may have just exploded from the lack of efficiency.  Luckily, the chaos provided me entertainment, especially the exercises themselves, which largely resembled "The Carleton" dance** from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, prompting me to have Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual," stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  

And today, I forgot my phone at home, but since my apartment is only a 5 minute motorbike ride away, I was able to run back after my first class, which happened to be inexplicably missing about 15 students.  On my way back to school on the main highway, I couldn't get in the main gates because the road was blocked by what looked to be a big parade.  There was a grand marshal, the school marching band and, among 200 or so other students, the other half of my first period class.  And when I asked the director about it after finally making it back, she nonchalantly explained that it was a parade for the greatest Robot prize from the Thai Princess.  Naturally.  Essentially my town is like a Thai Stars Hallow where seemingly odd things are actually the norm.  So, I should fit in just fine...

** For those of you unfamiliar with Fresh Prince of Bel Air, imagine Todd Kurtz style dancing.

The Foreign Language teachers at the morning assembly on exercise day.  I am the only western girl English teacher at my school.  P'Amy, the director/my boss is on the far left.  The P' prefix is similar to Mrs. or Mr. in English and should be used when addressing all older figures in Thai society. 

After exercise day.  Who knows if this will become a weekly thing.  Regardless, a poster with the Prime Minster in a sweatsuit (behind) was made to commemorate the occasion.  I meant to get a closer snapshot of the poster but forgot.  I think he'd make a good meme.

P'Amy and me.  She had our new shirts custom printed.

P'Amy, me and a couple of Thai teachers I don't know.  P'Amy is the queen of photo bombing.  She also had me photo bomb another department's group picture.