Okay, to continue where I left off on my last post-
So we arrived in Kalasin at 5:30 in the morning on a Wednesday. The three of us emerged from the bus bleary eyed and confused, and were left standing on the sidewalk with no knowledge of what to do or where to go. Eventually our school coordinator, Phe Lucky (Phe is the term you use in front of an elders name, a form of respect) came and picked us up and drove us to our accommodation, the Lucky Mansion (if that is not a perfect name for a brothel, I don't know what is). Turns out Lucky Mansion is about a three minute walk from the bus station, which is perfect for when we want to travel on the weekends.
Upon arriving at Lucky Mansion, the landlord Phe Noi greeted us with a warm Thai welcome. The apartment complex has about 14 rooms, and she opened up a few and told Shelby and I to pick our room! The all were pretty similar but I ended up choosing room #106, because it had a cute little green table and pretty blue and green sheets (such a girl).
I was a little worried Phe Lucky would have activities planned for the rest of the day, but she only asked if we needed anything and then allowed us to get settled, which I was very grateful about. After a week of orientation, adjusting to the new timezone and an overnight bus ride, I was exhausted to say the least. For the next few hours, I vegged out so very hard, it was lovely. Eventually I decided to take a walk around Kalasin, because I needed a few things for my apartment and I wanted to see the town. I'd always thought I'd had a somewhat decent sense of direction, but apparently that is incorrect because within 15 minutes I got so unbelievably lost it was hilarious. Every street looked the same to me! I continued to wander knowing I would eventually make my way back. Finally, at the end of the street I saw a Seven Eleven, and I knew there was one near the Lucky Mansion. Thank the gods it was the same one!
Once I got back to the apartment, I met Zuri, another English instructor at our school. She is from North Carolina, and will be staying another six months here in Kalasin. I am so grateful that she is here! She immediately gave us the DL on Kalasin. We went to the Walmart of Thailand, Tesco Lotus, where I stocked up on the basics. We took a tour around our school Anukoolnaree, and met a few of the faculty and staff. The school is large, approximately 3500 students.
On Friday, our school was hosting their orientation for Matayom 1, or seventh grade, which is the grade I will be teaching. We arrived at about 7:30 to a group of 800 seventh graders gathered on the lawn. They did some activities in the group and we introduced ourselves, and then were split up into their respective classes. Each of the English teachers paired up with a Thai teacher and had a basic English lesson! We used a workbook that was written by a native Thai speaker and unfortunately it was somewhat redundant, but at least it was something. I wasn't sure how I would handle teaching a class of approximately 50 kids but it went over rather well! By the way, these kids are the most adorable creatures I have ever seen. They were all so shy, yet full of energy. We played a game near the end of class where we split them up into two groups and they had to race to spell out the given word correctly. They were all so enthusiastic and really helped each other out and enjoyed the game. I am so so so excited to be teaching them! (although the Thai teachers told me they turn into naughty little monkeys after the first week).
School starts on Monday, so for now the other instructors and I are just hanging out, and preparing our basic lesson plans. I am teaching grade seven, and each one of my classes only meets once a week, but I have 18 classes, so that totals out to about 800 students....... There is no way I will be able to remember all their names. Over and out!
So we arrived in Kalasin at 5:30 in the morning on a Wednesday. The three of us emerged from the bus bleary eyed and confused, and were left standing on the sidewalk with no knowledge of what to do or where to go. Eventually our school coordinator, Phe Lucky (Phe is the term you use in front of an elders name, a form of respect) came and picked us up and drove us to our accommodation, the Lucky Mansion (if that is not a perfect name for a brothel, I don't know what is). Turns out Lucky Mansion is about a three minute walk from the bus station, which is perfect for when we want to travel on the weekends.
Upon arriving at Lucky Mansion, the landlord Phe Noi greeted us with a warm Thai welcome. The apartment complex has about 14 rooms, and she opened up a few and told Shelby and I to pick our room! The all were pretty similar but I ended up choosing room #106, because it had a cute little green table and pretty blue and green sheets (such a girl).
I was a little worried Phe Lucky would have activities planned for the rest of the day, but she only asked if we needed anything and then allowed us to get settled, which I was very grateful about. After a week of orientation, adjusting to the new timezone and an overnight bus ride, I was exhausted to say the least. For the next few hours, I vegged out so very hard, it was lovely. Eventually I decided to take a walk around Kalasin, because I needed a few things for my apartment and I wanted to see the town. I'd always thought I'd had a somewhat decent sense of direction, but apparently that is incorrect because within 15 minutes I got so unbelievably lost it was hilarious. Every street looked the same to me! I continued to wander knowing I would eventually make my way back. Finally, at the end of the street I saw a Seven Eleven, and I knew there was one near the Lucky Mansion. Thank the gods it was the same one!
Once I got back to the apartment, I met Zuri, another English instructor at our school. She is from North Carolina, and will be staying another six months here in Kalasin. I am so grateful that she is here! She immediately gave us the DL on Kalasin. We went to the Walmart of Thailand, Tesco Lotus, where I stocked up on the basics. We took a tour around our school Anukoolnaree, and met a few of the faculty and staff. The school is large, approximately 3500 students.
On Friday, our school was hosting their orientation for Matayom 1, or seventh grade, which is the grade I will be teaching. We arrived at about 7:30 to a group of 800 seventh graders gathered on the lawn. They did some activities in the group and we introduced ourselves, and then were split up into their respective classes. Each of the English teachers paired up with a Thai teacher and had a basic English lesson! We used a workbook that was written by a native Thai speaker and unfortunately it was somewhat redundant, but at least it was something. I wasn't sure how I would handle teaching a class of approximately 50 kids but it went over rather well! By the way, these kids are the most adorable creatures I have ever seen. They were all so shy, yet full of energy. We played a game near the end of class where we split them up into two groups and they had to race to spell out the given word correctly. They were all so enthusiastic and really helped each other out and enjoyed the game. I am so so so excited to be teaching them! (although the Thai teachers told me they turn into naughty little monkeys after the first week).
School starts on Monday, so for now the other instructors and I are just hanging out, and preparing our basic lesson plans. I am teaching grade seven, and each one of my classes only meets once a week, but I have 18 classes, so that totals out to about 800 students....... There is no way I will be able to remember all their names. Over and out!
Matayom 1!
Cutest
How pretty is this classroom! Straight out of an Anthropologie catalogue
More classroom
A platter of food that unfortunately I cannot name most of. The center is Som Tam, or Pappaya Salad, some kind of fried chicken skin, noodles, a cucumber like vegetable, and other things
We were so confused and scared as to what these were! Turns out they are called Khai Yiao Ma, or a Century egg. To make them, the eggs are soaked in a saline solution of ash, clay and salt and it can take between two weeks and a few months to complete. They tasted just like a normal hard boiled egg, maybe a little saltier.
This fish is about 2 ft long, and chills in one of the coffee shops we have been frequenting. I am a fan.
A buxom statue.
The lake near my apartment.
The road that my apartment is on.
Fun plant life!
I REALLY want to get a motorbike while I'm here. I'll keep y'all updated.
A spirit house, these are found outside of most houses and are used as a place to make offerings to the spirits that live in that building, so as to keep them happy.
A sinking rubber ducky.
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