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

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.

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.

PTL: The Mon, The Myth, The Legend

Pad Thai Lady.

I'm sure I've spoken about my revere for Pad Thai Lady (also dubbed PTL) plenty on this blog, and how I want to bring her home with me in my carry-on luggage, but really she deserves every ounce of praise she gets, and her very own blog post!  This lady can cook.  She doesn't need a fancy kitchen with crazy gadgets and granite counter tops.  No way, all PTL needs is a sidewalk, a few tables and chairs in her living room, some fresh veggies, and a large selection of sauces and cooking oils.  PTL (real name: Mon) is a legend in Suphanburi - she speaks no English, but she serves as the personal chef for a majority of the farang in our town who don't have kitchens in our apartment and who thus seek her out almost every evening to whip up some Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Khao Pat Gai, Phad Phak Ruam, Phad Kee Mow, etc - rice or noodles - up to you!

As of Tuesday, It's officially been 8 months since I left the USA for Southeast Asia, and while there are many things I miss from America, one thing I know I'll have a hard time leaving when it's time to go back is PTL.  I think she has spoiled my opinion of Thai restaurants in America forever.  I'll never be able to eat at a Thai restaurant and pay $10-15 for a meal I used to get for 90 cents! I'm sure I'll also miss the whole set-up: eating everything with a spoon, never knowing if the water you're going to drink will make you sick later on, the fact that there are no doors or windows on the restaurant, the Thai soap opera blaring in the background, the family photos that decorate the walls, and of course the dogs, cats, geckos and mosquitoes that hang out at your feet while you eat. Sure, it's different - but it's all part of the experience, and I LOVE it. Now I just have to convince Mon to come to America (whatever city I eventually end up in) to continue to serve me delicious Thai feasts, mai pen rai, right?  If nothing else, my goal before I leave is to at least convince her to teach me how to make a mean Pad Thai, which means I better get working on my Thai phrase-book!

In other news, the Social Studies teacher at Sa-nguan Ying School, Kru Tuke, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in America for 6 weeks in a program at Amherst College.  Everyone here is so proud of Kru Tuke and Nell and I are excited (and a little jealous!) to send her off with a list of things to do and see while she's in Boston.  Here's a link to Tuke's blog that she's set up for students and friends who want to follow her experiences in the US: http://discovertheuswithkrutuke.blogspot.com/

Ain't No Party Like a Village Party...

'Cuz a village party don't stop. You might be thinking, what exactly is a village party? Simply put, it's a party in the village. "The Village" is a street in Suphan where my friend Alex lives in an apartment among the locals, some of whom are teachers, parents and students of Sa-nguan Ying School. I was invited to the village party last weekend on account of one of my former students being accepted to a very prestigious school in Bangkok.  Most students I teach in M.3 (9th grade) are hopeful that when they finish the year they will be accepted to a school in Bangkok, which offers some of the best and highest achieving schools in Thailand.

The people of the village, as with most people I've met in Thailand, sure know how to throw a party.  There are 5 key ingredients for every gathering with Thai people and this party had it all:

• Friends: Everyone is invited - friends, families, adorable children, and in this case, all of the farang in Suphan.  It was so great to be able to hang out with the families that live in the village and they were so friendly and welcoming. 
• Food: It's no surprise that one of the first phrases most people living in Thailand learn is "Gin khao yung?" or "Have you eaten yet?" because food is an essential part of Thai living - and of course the food here is so spectacular even if you have already eaten you usually say no.  The village party featured an overflowing table with a feast of som tom, sticky rice, stir-fried pork with holy basil, and many more delicious Thai goodies. As soon as we arrived we were handed a plate of rice and a fork and spoon and invited to dig in, which we obviously did! 
• Drinks: No party with the locals is complete without Thai whiskey and soda water (though it's not exactly my style).  One of the more impressive drinkers at this party was a young mother of 4 who out-drank everyone in the village.  I started to get scared of her when she would fill up my drink, clink my glass and then promptly down hers while I futilely attempted to drink my Singha - and she wouldn't leave until my glass was empty!  She also did this while rocking one of her small children... definitely a champ. 
• Karaoke: Obviously! Karaoke had already begun when I arrived and it was going all night: solos, duets, group dances, Ronan Keating songs, Thai beats, etc. who needs a DJ when you can choose and sing all of the songs by yourself?
• Dancing: Of course, with the karaoke comes the dancing... the main show on this night was a 3 year old boy who jumped for about an hour straight to Thai pop songs. The ladies of the village also impressed with their jazzercise and traditional Thai inspired moves while I showed off my J-Lo moves (kidding!...kinda). 

Here's a few pics and a video of the night. Enjoy! 

The champ herself forcing Nell to down her Singha

Village Party in Thailand from Sarah Rall on Vimeo.

Glad to be Plaid

Last weekend our make-shift Christmas was a complete success, there was a lot of baking, some Uno, a dip in the rooftop pool (first time I've ever gotten a sunburn on Christmas Day!), and a lot of relaxing with our friends.  This week has been yet another chaotic, busy week at school with night classes for the students seeking entrance to the English Program next year, and the students have been rowdy because they're so excited about today's New Year festivities - they have no class and free reign to party all day long.  They've brought in a ridiculous buffet of goodies and decorations and it looks like it will be quite the throwdown.  My boss just walked out of the office with two bottles of red wine for the EP staff - no big deal that it's 9:30 a.m. - wine is something special in Thailand, it's rare to find it on a shelf.

Last night the school had a New Year's party for all of the faculty and staff at Sa-nguan Ying and the theme was....COWBOY NIGHT.  It was legendary.  I've never seen so much plaid, leather, fringe, and 10 gallon hats in one place in Thailand, and I doubt I ever will again!  Everyone was so cute and super into the theme, I rocked an American flag scarf my mom had conveniently shipped my way a few weeks back and some serious pigtails.  There was (loud) karaoke all night long with a set-list that included Dolly Parton and a raffle featuring prizes such as rice cookers, fans, a washing machine, and a refrigerator - I took home some new Tupperware - lucky duck!

This weekend we have Friday and Monday off for the holiday and Nell and I will be packing our bags and heading for the train station...destination unknown!  We're hoping by some miracle to make it up to Chiang Mai but we've been told the buses/trains are all sold out - so we may end up anywhere in Thailand or even across the border in Laos.  Cheers (Choc-tee-ka) to exploring the unknown! : )

Happy New Year to all, welcome 2011!

"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

Address Update

Just in case anyone was sending some Peanut Butter M&M's or Cheez-It's my way, I tracked down a better address for the school that you may want to try instead of the one I previously provided:

Sa-Nguan Ying School
attn: EP Office, Sarah Rall
134 Prachatippatai Street
A. Muang Suphanburi, Thailand 72000

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! : )

Bangkok: Hot and Muggy

I have arrived!

After a very, very long flight from Chicago to Seoul to Bangkok, I finally arrived on Tuesday evening.  So far it's been go, go, go with orientation by CIEE's partner in Thailand, the Overseas Education Group (OEG).

I've had my first Thai lesson, my first teaching lesson, an introduction to Thai culture, and yesterday Nell and I finally got some details on what we're doing at our school when we had a chance to meet with our coordinator.  We will be teaching in the English Program, a special program at the Sanguan Ying School for students who have been selected because they are good at speaking/understanding the language - sweet! I will be teaching 7th grade or M1 reading and writing and 9th grade (M3) reading and writing and fundamental English (basically conversation).  I will only have 25 students in each class, about 16 per week at 50 minutes a piece.  This is definitely lucky considering the other teachers at our school have been told they will be teaching to a class of 40-50 students. We were also informed that on Tuesdays we have to wear a pink shirt, on Wednesdays a white T-shirt for the English Program, and on Thursday a school uniform.  Guess it's time to go shopping for pink!  We're teaching in the city of Suphan Buri in the province of Suphan Buri and our apartment is supposedly right next to the school, which will make for a very easy commute.

So far a highlight of Thailand has been the food, obviously.  It's been entertaining to walk up to a food stand and point to a picture but have no idea what I'm ordering, and what I get always looks vastly different than the picture -but it still tastes delicious!  A few of us went to dinner one night and when they brought the food out none of it looked like anything we had ordered, so we all just picked a dish that looked good and went for it.  I'm definitely going to have to get over my picky eating habits since I will likely have no idea what I'm eating for the next year.  I've at least mastered the food basics: Chicken (Gai) and Pork (Moo).  I'm still learning the proper ways to eat - Thais don't ever use knives, they use the fork as a knife to push the food onto a spoon, which is what they use to eat everything.  I've had some difficulty trying to cut my food with a fork and spoon - especially chicken wings with last night's welcome dinner...it was not pretty.  

We went to the Grand Palace yesterday, a beautiful sight to see, last time I went (in 2004) we had no tour guide, so it was great to hear a bit about the Palace and Thailand history as we explored. Up next: a few more Thai lessons, some teaching practice, and on Monday - a trip to Kanchanaburi to ride elephants and go bamboo rafting.  From there it's off to my new home for the next year - Suphan Buri!  I can't wait to finally not be living out of a suitcase and to explore my new digs.  Here's a few pics of my adventures so far...