Jub Jub Suphan! Chan Ja Kit Tueng Suphan Mak Mak!

The time has come. Suphan has been a wonderful home these past 12 months. Thailand has made me a very calm, blessed and happy person, mee kwarm sook mak loey! Here's just a few of the things that I have loved and will really miss about living in Thailand:

Sights: the wai greeting, cute students, dogs riding shotgun on a motorbike, pictures of the King in every store, restaurant and home, food carts pushing their way down the street, bugs for sale at the night market, elephants walking down the street, geckos climbing all over the walls, standing to watch the tribute to the King at the beginning of movies in theaters, peace signs in pictures, shoes lined up in the hallway, students walking single file into school, Oat climbing all over our table at Dton's restaurant, 555 all over my facebook wall, stuffed tuk-tuks, people sitting on chairs on top of bags of rice on a moving truck, old shirtless men sitting on their stoops late at night, babies on a moped...

Sounds: tuk-tuk motors, chanting monks, the students daily greeting "Good Morning Teacher," the Thai language, the band at Chaba Cafe, old-school Thai music, the Suphan accent, Thaienglish, people yelling "farang" at me, the gecko squeak, the national anthem every day at 6am, 8am, and 6pm, the ding every time you enter a 7-11, motorbike drivers going past yelling out "I love you!," the Thai reactions "oh-hooooo","aow","oyyy!", "chon gow, mot gow" at the bars, traditional Thai tv show at PTL, chup chup!, Grandma babbling in Thai at PTL, 25 Hours concerts...

Smells: fresh coffee, Thai street food, bug spray, loaded up on sunscreen, toasties from ImD. (Okay, I'll be honest, there are more smells here that I won't miss than those that I will...)

Touch: Thai massages, cramming my longish (in Asia) legs into a seat on the public bus, riding on the back of a motorbike, hugs from the students every morning when I walk down the hall, dancing to too much so much very much whenever it comes on, tuk-tuk rides around town, hot and sunny weather all year long...

Tastes: chili peppers, fresh fruit, som tom, Thai style iced coffee, bamee noodles, flower water, rice bread, banana shakes, pocky, sticky rice, pad thai, khao soi, beer with ice, fried donuts, grapow moo, Thai style omelettes, locally grown rice, cornettos from 7-11, kai jiew, siracha sauce...

I've now pretty much moved out of my apartment and I'm no longer an official "resident" of Thailand.  I'm off to live the backpacker life and be a vagabond for the next 5 weeks. Michaela has arrived and starting on Saturday we will head to Bangkok, up through Northeastern Thailand, into Laos, then I'll go back to Chiang Mai, and on to Pai and Mae Hong Son, back to Bangkok to pick up my brother, down to Koh Lanta, one final night in Suphan, and then on to Seoul, South Korea for a few days before I head back to St. Louis, Missouri, USA!

It's been amazing, Thailand. I'll always consider Suphan home and I'm so happy I've got such a big family here to come back and visit. Khop Khun Mak Mak Mak Mak Mak Ka!!

SYEP Good-Bye Ceremony
Photo by Clare

Suphan Bucket List

The clock is ticking on my time in Suphan, after 12 months, suddenly the end is upon me way too fast - 6 days! I've finished teaching, so what lies ahead this week is proctoring the kids Thai exams and getting grades in while simultaneously packing up my apartment and trying to make sure I see all of my favorite people and visit all of my favorite spots in the last week. I actually have pretty much every meal mapped out over the next six days to ensure that I get to enjoy all of my favorite dishes one last time. It is going to be so, so hard to say good-bye to Suphan - I've really grown to love my little home amidst the rice paddies. In order to make the most of my last week here, I've written up my own little bucket list of things to do in Suphan before I leave... I've got until Saturday and I've already checked off a couple of things, so I'm off to a good start.

• Visit Banya's coffee shop at least once a day.  This shouldn't be too hard since I already do this every day, Banya makes the most delicious Thai iced coffee, her shop has the only couches I've seen in Suphan (jing jing) and she's a good friend who is so fun to hang out with. 

• Eat as much Som Tom from Dton's, Pad Thai from Pad Thai Lady, Bamee noodles from the noodle shop, and banana shakes from "BSL" (Banana Shake Lady) as is humanly possible. 

• Take at least one long walk through town every night. Nell and I started doing this a couple of months in and it's one of my favorite ways to experience Suphan. People are driving past yelling "hello" or "I love you!" and there are certain groups of people that see us every night and flash us the biggest smiles and say "welcome to Thailand!"... every single time we walk past them. 
• See a Suphan Football Club game. I managed to do this last night, and it was such a great time. I loved cheering on Suphan and my fellow fans were super amazed to see me reppin' my Suphan FC Jersey, one man said to me "I love you because you love Suphanburi." Love you back, dude. 

• Hang out with Game, Spicey, Ex, Sek, Pipe, Aobb, Tong, etc.  (These would be the names of a few of my Thai friends, 555). There are two nightlife spots in Suphan that I've really enjoyed lately, lots of great live music (perfect for my budding career as a Thai music groupie), good people-watching, and it's a great chance for me to pick up some Thai slang and learn random bits of Thai culture that I normally wouldn't know - like it's not okay to get your hair cut on Wednesdays.  Why? "Ancient tradition." This seems to be the answer for most of these little cultural quirks, that explanation works for me.

• Soak up every last second with my students. Even though they will be in and out all week for Thai exams, I plan on pretty much stalking them to see them as much as possible before I peace out. 
• Enjoy everything. I really don't want to get too caught up in the idea of counting down and leaving and saying good-bye. I want to live it up, have fun, and be happy and thankful for all of the wonderful people, places and things that make Suphan so wonderful. 

Why the Students of Sa-nguan Ying EP are Awesome.

Next week I will say some of my most difficult good-byes, to the lovely students of the EP at Sa-nguan Ying where I've had the privilege of working this past year. These students are creative, smart, hilarious, kind, loving, cute and cool. I have loved being their teacher. Sure there have been moments when I wanted to throw up my hands and walk out of the classroom because I was frustrated, but they were so few and far between. Teaching is a tough gig, I worked really hard this past year pumping out lesson plans, creating new games, researching topics, grading papers and tests, but it has also been immensely rewarding. I owe so much of my amazing Thailand experience to the EP students that I've been lucky enough to teach. They are simply the best, better than all the rest. Here are a few reasons why the students are so awesome:

• The M.3 (9th grade) students wrote a 6+ page extended essay or research paper in their second language... and they were excellent essays! They mastered the thesis, introduction, research and even citations. I'm pretty sure I would have laughed at my 9th grade French teacher if she asked me to pull that off, sorry Miss Molnar, but no chance! 
• They work hard. The students in EP, as in most schools in Thailand, study all day and all night. They go to school, then they take extra classes after school, and on the weekends they go to more extra classes in Bangkok. They work so, so hard, and yet they still manage to keep smiles on their faces. 
• They love each other. So often I've remarked that the students in Thailand seem to be far nicer than their counterparts in America. They treat each other with respect, even if they make fun of each other, I've never seen mean intent behind their jokes. It's really nice to see young people interact in a healthy way. 
• They are cool kids. Every day I leave my classrooms with another funny story to share in the teacher's office. They have introduced me to some amazing Thai tunes and superstars. They have helped me learn some cool Thai slang words to broaden my vocabulary. They have their own style and swagger even though they all wear the same thing and must sport the exact same haircut just below their ears - they rock it. So much of my Thailand experience has been shaped by these students and inside these classrooms and I will miss these cool kids every day... with faces like this, how could I not?

EP Happy Family

Friday night Sa-nguan Ying held quite the party - singing, dancing, rapping, etc. - all in celebration of the EP Family and the amazing students that make it up. I had been looking forward to EP Night since I heard about it during my first semester of teaching, and I can't believe it's over already!

Every class put on an individual performance full of ukuleles, cowboy hats, American flag scarves, game-shows, and retro song and dance. It was so cute to see the students all dolled up and showing off their moves.  They put so much work into the performances and I know their parents and teachers were very impressed. I got a little bit emosh watching my students perform... I have no idea how I will say good bye to them next month!  The English Program (EP) at Sa-nguan Ying really is like a family, the students are so smart, so cute, so funny and so creative, I consider myself lucky to be a part of it.

The students had been practicing their performances for quite some time, but it was only about two weeks before the event that the foreign teachers were informed that we were also expected to put on a show. One of the teachers, Shea, had already planned on singing the Thai hit by superstar Bird, "Too Much, So Much, Very Much," so Nell, Clare and I thought it would be a good idea if we learned the dance and Ally picked up the rap to back her up.  With a little choreography by Nell, a lot of practice, and watching various music videos and dance instruction videos, we pulled together quite the performance in 2 weeks. When the time came to actually do the dance we were all freaking out and very nervous, but I think we pulled it off pretty well. Judging by the crowd's reaction, I would say it was quite the success, but I'll let you be the judge:

Sports Day at Sa-nguan Ying

This Thursday and Friday Sa-nguan Ying held its annual Sports Day celebration - a two-day event that took months of planning and many hours of after school time dedicated solely to drumming and screaming practice. It was an epic event that began with a parade through "downtown" Suphanburi featuring some very loud cheers, a marching band and some seriously amazing costumes.  The opening ceremony consisted of a series of explosions, singing and dancing, raining confetti, fireworks and a torch-lighting bit that was reminiscent of an Olympics opening ceremony. It was big, loud and amazing - classic Thailand. The days consisted of sporting events such as basketball, volleyball and soccer (football as it's known here).  It was fun to see my students being athletic, and I especially enjoyed some of the matches that pitted the M.1 (7th graders) students versus the M.6 (12th graders) students, most of the older boys were a good foot taller than the younger gang and the basketball games were hardly a fair contest but everyone was such good sports.  I loved watching the students "wai" (bow) to each other before the contests.  The dancing competitions were easily the highlight of the celebrations for me, I loved the intricate costumes and the mix of cheerleading, traditional Thai dance and gymnastics.  I was also very impressed by the decibel level reached by the girls when they added in a bit of screeching - "I ya!" (Thai for OMG). It was also hilarious to watch the girls that competed in the dance competition earlier in the day take the court later in the day for a basketball game in full makeup with elaborate up-do's in their hair - mai pen rai!  Here's a few pics and a hastily put together video of the events of Sports Day, enjoy!

Sports Day in Thailand from Sarah Rall on Vimeo.

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

Lately I've been struggling to get out of bed to get to school and I take an extra deep breath before I walk into each classroom to face a room full of rowdy students. I find myself daydreaming for the summer days when I was globetrotting across Asia and exploring new places. Thank goodness this weekend we have our first break in the semester - a four day weekend - holler! Nell and I are off to the island of Koh Mak, a very small island in the Trat province near Koh Chang. If the Google Images of the island weren't enough to convince me, I discovered that every beach bungalow for rent seems to feature its own hammock outside - sign me up!

To reminisce a bit on my summer of freedom, I put together a video of all of my trips in the Tour de Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam - it's all coming back to me now! Check it out below...

Summer Vacation, Asia Style

Starring: Nell Riccio, Meghan Hart, Emily Rall, Amy Wallace, and heaps of cool locals. 

Song: "Go Do" by Jonsi

Summer Vacation: Asia Style from Sarah Rall on Vimeo.

Wai Kru: or Why It's Cool to Teach in Thailand

Last week our school held its annual "Wai Kru" ceremony and it was one of those special Thailand moments that makes me happy to be living and teaching in this culture.  A "Wai" is the traditional Thai greeting of respect with hands together and a bow of the head, and "Kru" in Thai means teacher. Therefore, the ceremony was essentially a chance for the students to show their respect to the teachers of Sa-nguan Ying School.

The ceremony began with a Buddhist prayer and the students singing several songs in Thai, they made quite the choir, and even though I couldn't understand the songs it was a really nice way to start off the ceremony.  After a moment of tribute to the King, including the students singing the Royal Anthem (love this song!) the students bowed in greeting as the director walked in.  According to someone who translated the ceremony for me, the students were chanting their appreciation for teachers and pledging their respect.

For the Wai Kru ceremony, each class makes an offering that they present to the staff, and they pretty much have creative freedom - some of my favorite offerings included a Doraemon replica, a duck, and a 3-tiered floral display that was just barely able to stay together. The offerings are mainly composed of flowers, and supposedly each flower represents something different, such as respect, patience and discipline.

The offerings were presented to the Director and the rest of the teachers at SY by selected class representatives who walked up to the stage on their knees with their heads bowed as a sign of respect.  I didn't score a seat on the stage, but I had a really good view of the ceremony from my seat on the side, it was really cute to see the students make their way to the front and present the faculty with the offerings.  Teachers in Thailand have the ultimate respect of both the students and Thai society as a whole, it was refreshing and beautiful to see the students show their respect in such a uniquely Thai way through this ceremony and I'm glad I got to experience it in my time here.

Music Monday: Featuring "Bird"

I probably should have started sharing some of my favorite Thai music with you way back when, but it's never too late, and I think Bird is the perfect start - 555.

This song has been playing in my head about 40% of the time since I moved to Thailand, and that could be helped by the fact that I always hear it blaring from songtows passing or karaoke parties, and every time I say the words "too much" in class it is followed by a chorus of very cute students singing "so much very much."  I'll let you check it out for yourself.  A lil' background: Bird, the singer, is a 52 year old Thai pop star with serious dance moves and this song spent a lot of time this past year in the #1 spot of Thailand's music charts.  It's hard to believe he is 52 - but no one in Thailand seems to age - it's quite the gift! This song definitely has staying power... and by that I mean good luck getting the refrain out of your head!

Paradise Found: Bali & Gili Trawangan

I'm back in Suphan now, currently getting ready to teach my first class which is about to take place, so it's slightly painful to write this blog post about my most recent trip to Indonesia that covered Bali and Gili Trawangan.  Simply put, these two places are paradise.  Bali was everything I had heard about and more, and Gili T (as it is lovingly called) was the most beautiful, relaxing, perfect piece of earth I've ever set foot on.

Nell and I decided early on that we wanted to spend our last two weeks of summer break on a beach doing nothing, and I would have to say our trip was a total success in that regard! I spent 3 of the 7 days in Indonesia in Bali - one night in Kuta, which is really all you need there, and 2 nights in Ubud.  Ubud is definitely the heart of Bali; it's full of culture, its residents wear traditional Balinese dress, the grounds and temples are covered in spirit offerings full of rice, flowers, candy, etc. and the rice terraces are perfectly carved into the hills. We stayed in a homestay there that was really nice and in our budget and spent most of our time walking around the city and soaking it in.  Nell and I attempted to hire a taxi to take us around for the day to see the volcano, the islands famous temples, and the rice terraces - but we only made it to the terrace and a very foggy volcano viewpoint before the rain set in and ended our tourist expedition.  I definitely didn't see all there was to see in Bali, which means I guess I'll have to make a return trip at some point in my lifetime! I think I've found the perfect honeymoon destination...now all I need is a groom : )

In the middle of our time in Bali we took off on a 2 hour speedboat ride to another island in Indonesia, Gili Trawangan.  Gili T is one of three Gili islands off the coast of Lombok.  Gili T was small enough that we could walk around (tip to others: don't go at sunset or you'll wind up feeling your way around the barren part of the island at night using your cell phone as a flashlight and avoiding weird animals - not that I know from experience or anything...) and it was surrounded by water that is of the crystal clear turquoise/teal/blue variety.  There are no cars, no motorbikes, and no dogs allowed on Gili T - the only way to get around is to walk or take a horse and buggy - this only adds to the islands cuteness factor. While on Gili T we spent most of our time on the beach, drinking banana shakes, eating pizza at one of the bean-bag beachside restaurants, watching movies at night projected onto big screens on the sand, and attempting to snorkel (unfortunately we picked a windy day to do this and the water wasn't clear enough to see any of the island's famous sea turtles that live offshore.) I would go back to Gili T in a heartbeat, and I easily could have spent more time there, it was really hard to get back on the boat, but luckily we couldn't be too sad about "going back to Bali."

The only downside about Bali and Gili T is that they are not as cheap as Thailand, actually Thailand is cheaper than any of the other countries I've visited, so by the end of my week my funds were in a bit of a dire situation (I'm living a cash-only existence these days since I don't have a Thai bank account and my school pays in cash) so Nell and I instituted a serious budget.  Of course, the budget made room for some luxuries - like a 2 hour Balinese body scrub and massage - while we sacrificed things like "lunch".  Every Rupiah spent in Bali was well worth it though and I would do it all again if I had the chance to go back- which I hopefully will! Up next: off to Malaysia!

The New Normal

The first semester is winding down and as I'm preparing to say farewell to my first batch of students (sad!), I've been super busy with grading and testing, so my apologies for the lack of posts! I think I've also hit a bit of teacher burn out, I'm in desperate need of a little break, some long-term traveling, and some visitors (my sister and college BFF) - can't wait! I hit a low last week when only 3 out of my 17 9th grade students turned in a project they had been given 8 days to complete, (it only involved writing 2 paragraphs!) I was so frustrated I actually walked out of class.  I think the message was well received though, I received an apology letter and the late homework at the end of the day with the students literally bowing to me as they placed it on my desk.  Although, to be fair, the bow in Thailand (wai) is just a normal part of culture so I shouldn't feel too special I suppose.

Speaking of "normal" and Thailand, I thought I'd shed some light on the "new normal" that is my every day life.  Three and a half months in, few things in Thailand phase me as they once did, I've come to accept them as my new life, but upon reflection they are actually pretty odd. Here are a few...

Sidewalks do not exist. There is no such thing as sidewalks in Thailand, the word for sidewalk in Thai is the same as street, and apparently that applies to how they should be used - when walking down a sidewalk I'll often have to avoid motorbikes cruising down the block, avoiding the perfectly good road that's right next to me.  I also have to avoid overflowing "restaurants," trash bins, phone booths (they actually still get used here!), stray dogs, dried fish vendors, roosters, etc. I used to love taking long, meandering walks but with the lack of space to do it, I've put those on hold until I'm back stateside. Sidewalks and streets: same same, but different.

5 Star restaurants have a whole different vibe.  I'm quite certain that the best Pad Thai in the world is produced daily by my local street vendor affectionately known to the farang as "Pad Thai Lady." It is unbelievably good, made fresh right before my eyes, and costs about 80 cents for the meal.  She also makes several other delicious dishes that I've come to adore: phat grapow gai, pad see ew, khao phat gai, the list goes on. The building itself, however, is nothing like any place I've ever eaten, or will ever eat in the States due to health codes.  There is a cat that frequently jumps from table to table, a swarm of flies and mosquitoes (most restaurants in the Soup actually provide customers with bug spray at the table), no front door, no clean water, and twice this week mid-meal a man on a motorcycle drove into the restaurant and parked his bike next to our table. This spot is no exception, this is what most eating establishments in Thailand (especially outside of the big cities) look like, but when the food is this delicious, it just doesn't matter.

A good night's sleep is a thing of the past. After a long day of teaching and fighting off the 90 degree temperatures that keep creeping higher, some days I long for a comfy night snuggled in my bed.  Alas, that will have to be a dream deferred, and reality is harsh.  Each night before I get in bed I first cautiously scout for bed-bugs, mosquitoes and geckos that might try to hide under my covers - trust me, they do.  On a quick count today, I woke up this morning with 26 red, itchy bites (really - jing jing!).  I sleep on a rock of a mattress-- there is zero give to this baby, when I flop down I can literally bounce right back up. There is also a mysterious smell that lives in the pipes of all the apartments in our building, I don't understand it, and I've tried everything to get rid of it, but some mornings it's so bad it actually wakes me from my sleep when it seeps into the room.  Good day, sunshine.

Squat toilets. I don't even know how to describe this experience.  Whenever I enter a public restroom I immediately check to see if there might (please!) be a Western style toilet, but all too often they do not exist.  Bathrooms in Thailand have a bring your own toilet paper, bring your own soap kind of deal, and they usually cost a few baht to enjoy.  Once you enter you are greeted by a hole in the ground contraption that involves some interesting strategy.  These toilets don't feature that state of the art invention called a flush so there will be a bucket of water sitting next to the toilet with a bowl that you fill and then dump into the hole until you think it's sufficient.  All I can say is...yikes daddy. Thank goodness for a steady supply of Charmin' to go t.p. and scented hand sanitizer that never leave my purse.

Field Trip!

Life in the Soup has settled into a fairly regular routine these days, teach M-F 8-4, tutor or teach a prep course until 6:15 or 7, hope there's a good movie on the lone English TV channel, and then hit the hay.  I've entered serious money saving mode recently since I've started planning my "summer break" (March-May) trips.  So far I've booked flights to Bali (Indonesia), Langkawi (Malaysia) and a school trip to Vietnam.  Hoping to hit up Cambodia, Laos and possibly Hong Kong as well - I need to have pages added to my passport for all of these stamps/visas!  With all these big trips on the horizon, I'll likely be sticking close to home for the next few weeks.  Although, keeping myself entertained in Suphanburi for a whole weekend has proved to be very tough - there's just not that much going on in what we farang lovingly call the "Detroit of Thailand".  

This week I was able to enjoy a midweek reprieve when we took a field trip to Ayutthaya with the M.2 class (8th graders).  They have been studying the city and its history/ruins in their social studies class so they were split into groups and assigned a teacher to show around.  I was so impressed that they memorized everything and their English was so good. It was really nice to have someone explain what I was seeing since last time I was there I relied on the Lonely Planet guidebook for the low down. I also had my third opportunity to ride an elephant (not your average field trip!), although I felt bad for these elephants because Ayutthaya is a flat/hot/dusty city and I think the elephants probably enjoy themselves a little more when they are in their natural element in the forest or by the water.   

It's hard to believe but the first semester is already coming to a close, I'll spend the next few weeks writing exams, filling out behavior reports, and finalizing student grades - which should be an interesting process because although some students have many missing grades, I'm not allowed to fail anyone. I'll have to come up with some sort of crazy way to scale the grades.  It doesn't seem like a very effective practice to let everyone pass, but I guess it's just one of those things I'll never understand about the Thai education system.   

"My grass is leaking"

Now that I've got a better handle on what my role as teacher will be, I thought I would give you an update on my life in the classroom.  I'm working with the 7th (M1) and 9th (M3) graders at Sa-nguan Ying School, and wow are they cute.  First of all, their names. They all have nicknames to make it easier for the poor folks like myself that could never pronounce their Thai names, and some of them are just extra special, here's a small sample: Arm, Nine, Eye, Donut, Cartoon, Ping Pong, Dream, Mean, Air, Champ and Wow.  I'm not sure how or when they chose these nicknames, but I'm thankful that they have them!

I'm teaching the students Reading & Writing and Fundamental English - which is primarily focused on listening and speaking English.  I spend a lot of time with my students working on pronunciation - something which I previously thought was no big deal - but it has surprised me how important it is to focus on.  Some common problem sounds/words for Thai speakers are the words that end in -ce, -se, or -x - since word endings are usually dropped in the Thai language.  They also have a very hard time with the letter "R", convenient because my name is Sarah, so I've become either Sarah with a rolling R or "Salah" - which is appropriate given there was also no R in the Zulu language of South Africa so I went by a similar name when I studied abroad in Cape Town.  Salah it is.

I've experienced some great success in my lessons and also some epic fails - sometimes with the same lesson to a different class of students.  I'm continually amazed at how much work goes into my lesson plans - I spend all day when I'm not teaching researching teaching styles and methods and then I spend most nights developing lesson plans - I have so much more respect than I already did for all of my teachers! I will definitely have my work cut out for me in teaching both my M1 and M3 students to write, last week I asked them to write one sentence for each of the 10 vocabulary words we had learned in class, 6 of the 16 students decided not to do the homework (this is typical in Thai education) and those that did turned in some very interesting work.  Here's a sample of their sentences:

• My grass is leaking.
• My essential thing is study.
• Paper boat is flating on water in the boat have a duck.

So...while grading papers is extremely entertaining, it also makes me realize that I have quite the challenge ahead of me!  My Thai co-teacher told me after class that I really had to stress that they turn in their homework, she said, "I told them in Thai: Do your homework or I will cut your skull."  Um, thanks?

Other than lesson plans and grading, the school has been very welcoming to their foreign teachers, this week they had a welcome ceremony before classes for all of the new teachers.  I had to make a short speech in front of all of the faculty and staff and the 2,600+ students.  I kept it short and sweet but also mixed in my "nidnoi Thai" (little Thai).  "Sawatdee Ka, Chan chue Sarah, chan ma jak America, I teach M1 and M3 in the English Program."  The speech was met with resounding applause...well, kind of! I also received a bouquet of white roses and a school pin from the Director.  Today the teachers spent the whole day in a conference on Challenge Based Learning, complete with group activities and what I would call the Thai version of "Buddy Walkers" (my Sunset Point Camp friends will understand). Tonight, the English Program is having its welcome dinner for Nell and I, we've been forewarned that there will be karaoke, of course, so I guess I should go warm up my voice! 

My flowers and school pin! 

Single file entrance to school every day

Morning Assembly
Raising the flag: Morning Assembly video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX6DTFj7sqI

Just call me Kru Sarah...

I've finally hit the books.

After two weeks of Orientation, side-trips, exploring and lots of Thai food - school officially started on Tuesday.  My normally quiet end of town was bumping with activity when I stepped out the door on Tuesday in my new pink polo shirt (sooo trendy!), there were policeman directing traffic and mopeds zooming by with 2, 3, 4 students piled on back.

Side note: I'm amazed at the way people ride mopeds here, I've seen people driving with a 2 year old on their lap, a boy on the back eating his breakfast of champions (noodles) on the way to school, a girl reading a book, and one woman in stiletto heels riding sidesaddle holding on with one hand while clutching her purse with the other.  At one point I would like to master the art of riding a moped, but for now I'm a little too scared.  I somehow don't think it's appropriate to grab on to the driver and wrap myself around him praying for my life.

As I mentioned previously, school has been a continual lesson of "Mai Pen Rai" or "Don't Worry About It."  I feel very blessed to be a part of the English Program at Sa-Nguan Ying because the small class sizes and excellent staff of fellow teachers has made for an easier adjustment, but there are still so many unanswered questions.  The textbooks we have been given are fairly thorough but also terribly boring - I just can't handle the idea of teaching my students a unit on Cosmetic Surgery, the Mobius Band, and Blood Types!  I will, however, definitely be tackling the chapters on Rodeos, International Baseball, and Jennifer Lopez.  I've been given very little insight on what topics were previously covered or where to begin, and the curriculum is pretty much up to me - which is both a good thing and a not so good thing.  It's been a lot of work and a lot of studying and research, but I'm enjoying it.  If any teachers out there have suggestions on games/activities for reading & writing I would so appreciate you sending it my way!

I've adjusted quickly to the idea of being barefoot all the time, I have to take off my shoes before I enter my classrooms and before I enter the teacher's office - it will be an interesting transition when I go back to the corporate world, somehow I don't think barefoot meetings would go over so well.  I have not adjusted to the idea of using a squat toilet at work...and bringing my own toilet paper to the bathroom with me. Luckily, they remodeled 2 of the bathroom stalls so they now feature Western-style toilets (with a seat) so that will hopefully be a one time experience.

Nell and I got a great shout-out on the school's website, I'll let you read our introductions (if you know Thai)  I like how they included our birthdays - apparently I was born in 2528.  Nice.  http://www.sy-ep.org/UserFiles/File/TEACH.pdf

This weekend I'm off to Bangkok with some friends to live the good life at someones family friend's penthouse suite - I'm sure it will be a very interesting weekend! There is a great group of fellow American teachers in our apartment, I'm sure they will be a very valuable support system as we get more involved in teaching, but they are also great people to grab a Singha with after school or travel around the country with to take in our new surroundings.

Here's a few pics of the school, it resembles a college campus in many ways, there are almost 3,000 students and about 95% girls, lucky dudes! : )