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
Friday, October 29, 2010
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! : )
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! : )
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Mai Pen Rai
One aspect of Thai culture that I've definitely adapted to quickly is their Mai Pen Rai attitude, aka "Don't Worry About It". The other day when Nell and I were sitting at dinner I was struck by how different our lives are when instead of our usual dinner convo of where should we go out this weekend and "so...who do we like?" Nell threw this perfectly legit question at me: "I wonder how many bugs I've eaten since I've been to Thailand?" While I'm normally no fan of bugs invading my space, it's just another aspect of my new and very different life, and I can't help but approach it with a Mai Pen Rai frame of mind. Yes, I'm constantly attacked by mosquitoes; Yes, my bedroom and desk at work are crawling with ants and other unknown insects; Yes, I can look around any restaurant I'm in and count at least 10 geckos hanging from the ceiling above my head...but, all I can say is...Mai Pen Rai.
This weekend I had planned to head up north to one of my fave places on earth, Chiang Mai, but we were nervous when we walked out our front door and saw that the main road in town had been flooded (see below) and we didn't want to miss our first day of teaching because we were stuck way up north.
So to take a break from the Soup, we decided to join several of our friends a few hours down South in Hua Hin to relax on a beach. Hua Hin is a fancy resort town, apparently it is very big with Europeans, so there were a lot more food choices, as well as people that could speak English. After several major food FAILS in Suphan Buri last week, including one night where 4 of us went out, ordered our separate chicken/veggie meals (we thought), and the waitress returned with 3 plates of fried egg and plain white rice, we were definitely in need for some variety. Of course, that ended up being lots of grilled cheese, banana crepes, and banana shakes - but it was delicious!! It was really nice to meet up with some of our orientation friends and hear how everyone else was settling in to their new living situations, and of course we had a lot of fun taking on the karaoke bar in town.
Here's a few pics of my beach vaca...I know, I know, tough life! I did, however, start teaching today and it was very overwhelming, but I'll save the deets on that for my next post. Let's just say I'll have to be sure to carry that Mai Pen Rai attitude with me to school...
This weekend I had planned to head up north to one of my fave places on earth, Chiang Mai, but we were nervous when we walked out our front door and saw that the main road in town had been flooded (see below) and we didn't want to miss our first day of teaching because we were stuck way up north.
So to take a break from the Soup, we decided to join several of our friends a few hours down South in Hua Hin to relax on a beach. Hua Hin is a fancy resort town, apparently it is very big with Europeans, so there were a lot more food choices, as well as people that could speak English. After several major food FAILS in Suphan Buri last week, including one night where 4 of us went out, ordered our separate chicken/veggie meals (we thought), and the waitress returned with 3 plates of fried egg and plain white rice, we were definitely in need for some variety. Of course, that ended up being lots of grilled cheese, banana crepes, and banana shakes - but it was delicious!! It was really nice to meet up with some of our orientation friends and hear how everyone else was settling in to their new living situations, and of course we had a lot of fun taking on the karaoke bar in town.
Here's a few pics of my beach vaca...I know, I know, tough life! I did, however, start teaching today and it was very overwhelming, but I'll save the deets on that for my next post. Let's just say I'll have to be sure to carry that Mai Pen Rai attitude with me to school...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
I love sweating, sweating's my favorite.
I have decided that my hardest job the next year may be staying hydrated. It is so hot here I literally start sweating the moment I enter my hallway, I've been drinking tons of water, but this heat is hard to beat. (Did I mention this is their cool season?) The humidity is also something special, Nell and I made it about 5 full days before we both broke down to buy hair straighteners...I thought I could go without, but it was an out of control frizz fest.
I'm really liking my new digs - I've spent some time the past 2 days walking around, exploring the sights, and being a spectacle in town as one of few foreigners or "farangs". Literally every time I walk down the street, into a store, or into a restaurant, everyone looks up and stares and giggles. Occasionally I will hear a "Hello" or even a few "Yo"s, but for the most part it's a lot of smiles and "wais" (a wai is a slight bow and the Traditional Thai greeting, I'm def. bringing this back whenever I return to the US). There are very, very few people in our town that speak English. Even the fellow teachers in the English Program that we met today (the English nicknames they chose are Bird and Star) were hard to converse with - I will be practicing my Thai daily!
My apartment is really nice, I have a massive King Size bed, Air Conditioning (!!), a TV (only 1 or 2 English channels, but hey, it will help out my Thai), a balcony, and a "wet bathroom". The bathroom is...different. The shower has no walls or shower curtain, I was scared the first time I took a shower that it would flood everything, but I actually managed to do OK, there's a slight step from my bathroom to my apt. so that water can't escape. It's definitely something new. There's also no hot water, which I thought would be awful, but it really is so hot here that it doesn't matter that much.
I'm really liking my new digs - I've spent some time the past 2 days walking around, exploring the sights, and being a spectacle in town as one of few foreigners or "farangs". Literally every time I walk down the street, into a store, or into a restaurant, everyone looks up and stares and giggles. Occasionally I will hear a "Hello" or even a few "Yo"s, but for the most part it's a lot of smiles and "wais" (a wai is a slight bow and the Traditional Thai greeting, I'm def. bringing this back whenever I return to the US). There are very, very few people in our town that speak English. Even the fellow teachers in the English Program that we met today (the English nicknames they chose are Bird and Star) were hard to converse with - I will be practicing my Thai daily!
My apartment is really nice, I have a massive King Size bed, Air Conditioning (!!), a TV (only 1 or 2 English channels, but hey, it will help out my Thai), a balcony, and a "wet bathroom". The bathroom is...different. The shower has no walls or shower curtain, I was scared the first time I took a shower that it would flood everything, but I actually managed to do OK, there's a slight step from my bathroom to my apt. so that water can't escape. It's definitely something new. There's also no hot water, which I thought would be awful, but it really is so hot here that it doesn't matter that much.
That's about all for my home tour - plenty of space for visitors though...start researching your tickets! Our town is cute, lots of action in the markets, so many street vendors, and I've already identified several good places to buy a Thai iced coffee (gah-faa yen), so aroi! (delicious) Today Nell and I checked out the Giant Dragon in town which is a Chinese temple and the Dragon Descendants Museum. It was pretty sweet, we got a great view of Suphan Buri from the top and we made friends with two Thai women who laughed at every attempt we made to speak with them...at least we're trying!
Also, you may have heard about the flooding in Thailand - no one here seems to be too concerned when we ask them about it, but I'm also not sure they understand the question, good thing my apt. is on the 4th floor! We have noticed a lot of stores building cement walls around their entrances, which we're guessing is their way to protect it from the flood, I'll keep you updated if I'm taking a boat around town in the next few days...
New pics on Facebook.
If you would like to contact me, there are a few ways:
- Cell Phone: 084 542 0589 ( Country code is +66)
- Skype: sarah.e.rall
- Not only am I living in the future because I'm 11-14 hours ahead of the US in terms of time zone, it's also the year 2553, because their calendar is the Buddhist Calendar.
- There are more than 28 different varieties of bananas in Thailand!
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