Ok, so for the past 3 weeks I have been in Chiang Mai with Clem and the other 16 volunteers learning Thai at AUA learning centre.
Learning Thai has been such a good experience and it was really fun as well. We had to be at AUA for 10am in the mornings Monday to Friday and didn't finish till 3pm with 1 hour lunch break in-between. In total, over the three weeks, we all did 60 hours of Thai language learning! We all managed to learn quite a lot of stuff as well which will help for when I start teaching and the students don't know any English.
We were all split into two groups and the teacher we had in group A was called Joy. (This was her nickname as it was much easier to say than her Thai name :p) Her lessons were really fun as she incorporated a lot of different games and at times we were in two different teams which made us get quite competitive with each other! We played games like charades, hot potato and such! Fun times :) I have never been that good at languages but I did all right while I was there so its all good I just have to remember it all when i'm in Si Saket! It all sounds like fun and games huh? Well that's true until the final day in where we had to do a final exam :( It included three different sections and we had 2 hours to do them all. Thankfully it wasn't too hard but I did have to guess some questions as everything was in Thai! Afterwards we were all taken to the Chiang Mai culture centre to learn about the Chiang Mai history which was quite fun as our tour guide was a lady-boy! :p Our fun times were short lived though as when we got back, we were given our tests back and a certificate with our mark on! Thankfully I managed to get 33 out of 40 so I didn't really have anything to worry about :) One worry off my chest, just the fact that I have soon got to start teaching in a Technical College where the students don't want to learn and such. Joy told us that Technical Colleges were the worst places to teach as the students don't want to learn, they wont turn up and they might even pull tricks on us!! What a way to fill us with confidence! Oh well i'm sure we will be fine... :s
Well thats basically all what happened AUA wise in Chiang Mai so now I will give an brief description of what happened at the weekends. On the first Friday, it was one of the volunteers 18th birthday. Well that just means that we should go and celebrate :) We found a pretty awesome bar called THC but we all called it the roof-top-bar as it was on a roof! You could out over loads of the city as long as it wasn't raining :p The only problem it had was that you had to up quite a few stairs to get up to it so it can get a bit risky when you have had a bit of the old alcohol! ;) In the first weekend our host family came up to Chiang Mai as their eldest daughter goes to university in Chiang Rai. We went with them on Saturday to a small village and stayed their overnight. It was really nice and peaceful there, the only problem was that in the evening, we had a power cut so had to spend all evening in the pitch black as there were no street lamps of any kind. Thank goodness for torches and the light of the phone! Luckily, it was back on in the morning so we could all do the stuff we needed. We then went shopping and Clem and myself got pictures painted on the back of our phones :) I got a purple elephant which I have now named Geoffry :p I also got a small 5 Baht keyring which is a small ginger doll so we now joke that it's like the 'little me' from Coroline!
In the second weekend all 18 of us went elephant trekking in the jungle! It was an amazing experience even though it was so stupidly hot! We went into waterfalls and trekked quite a way to get to the little village where we were staying. Were we stayed was a nice place the only problem was that we went to sleep kind of early as we were tired but one of the guides had gotten a bit tipsy and kept on coming in saying 'Are you sleeping?' and 'You are not sleeping' and it got quite freaky especially when he came under the mosquito net and tried to grab our legs :p Luckily he eventually went away and we were able to sleep in peace. On the second day we split into 2 groups and while one group went on the elephants, the others went to another waterfall. It was so much fun especially on the elephants although when we were going down hill we had to be careful not to slip off the seats which was quite and effort! Afterwards we went rubber rafting and bamboo rafting. The rubber rafting was hilarious as in our boat was Clem, Frances and myself and we had such a laugh when we capsized and kept on getting stuck. One the most memorable moments was when a massive spider jumped in the boat so I jumped out and then had to run after the boat as the current was taking it away from me! It was quite a sight :p The other funny moment was when we where getting out and I slipped on a rock and the current started to take me away downstream and people had to come and grab me so I wouldn't float away! The bamboo rafting was more relaxed as we had a Thai person doing the steering and such. Clem and myself spent most of the time dancing and trying not to fall in as the raft was only about 7 pieces of bamboo roped together. Luckily we didn't fall in and made it to the other end relatively dry :p Unfortunately, in the last weekend we had to go back to Si Saket so on the final few days we all went to go out and celebrate all of our final days in Chiang Mai and the fact that we wouldn't be seeing each other again for a while until we all travel to meet them.
So, there is the update of the goings on in Chiang Mai. The next instalment will be entitled The Start of Teaching. :)
Monday 25 October 2010
Si Saket Catch-up
Ok so I know that I haven't updated in lets just say quite a while but that is due to the fact that E-Blogger wanted a google account and such which was a tad annoying :p This is just a catch up of the last bits of Si Saket up to Chiang Mai. Not much happened in this time apart from a few major things so you shall hear about them.
First thing to write about is the 'Car Free Day' that we took part in. Basically we heard from our friend the textiles teacher that she was taking part in this Car Free Day so we decided to join in with P-Aim, Yok Soyai and Fah Sai. We had to be out in front of SISAT college at 6.30am on a Sunday! Not the nicest time to be out especially when you have to get up at 5.15am to leave at 6! The ironic thing was that our bikes were already at the college and we were at our Hosts House and our host parents wouldn't let us walk the 2 minute walk to the college so we had to go by some other means. We started our Car Free Day being driven in a car to the college. Hmmmm. It was quite embarrassing as the people who were already there saw two white people being driven to the Car Free Day. One more way to stick out in Si Saket! :p Well we picked up our bikes and went to the front of the school to find quite a few people all out there. We were given free tops and then had to get our blood pressure taken to make sure that we were fit enough to do the bike ride! I was a tad nervous and it felt really weird but it was taken and I was told that it was good! :) My blood pressure is 110/95. WE were then able to get a drink and some food as it was breakfast and during this time, because we are the one of the only white ones in Si Saket, we had to pose for a stupid amount of photos with a banner and such. One would be taken and a few seconds later, we would be dragged of for another one! Even random people were asking to take pictures with us too!
We were meant to start at 6.30 but due to the pictures and the Mai Pen Rai of the Thai people, we didn't start till around 7.30am! Both myself and Clem had to start at the front due to our whiteness and we followed a car around the town. It was quite funny as there were a few SISAT students who sat on a train like thing which was driven by a tractor (It was different carriages all stuck together like on a beach) and when ever I was cycling next to them, they just took pictures of me! We cycled around the whole town and then stopped by the train station. I thought that it was just for a rest but then discovered that that was the end! Our Cycle Free Day, was a whole hour and a half long! Although I suppose Cycle Free Couple of Hours doesn't really have as much of an impact! :p We ended up cycling back to SISAT where we saw quite a few people sticking bikes onto the back of their pick-up trucks and driving off home! Looks like other people started off the day in a car as well which made us feel a bit better!
Next we have the first trip to Ubon Ratchathani. P-Aim, Clem and myself were all going to catch a train at around 9ish. Unfortunately we ran a bit behind time and got there after 9 so the train would have gone. We went to buy our tickets and a stroke of luck, our train arrived! It was running late so we caught in perfect time :) It was quite lucky as the next train wasn't for another hour and a half. The train journey was and hour long and I spent most of the time glued to the open window taking pictures of the worlds going by :) When we arrived to met up with P-Oil and Yok Soyai who drove there and went shopping! To start with we went to a big shopping market to look for stuff and it was really nice there mainly because it had air-con :p Next we went to a load of second hand markets which had some good cheap stuff but it was so hot that day and the markets were covered with cloth which just trapped the heat in so you practically died under there! It must have been about 35/36 degrees! A lot compared to over-cast England :p Afterwards we went to Big C for you guessed it, ice cream! It really cooled us down and prepared us for the journey back in the car where we slept for a whole hour :p
Next we have the day where Clem and myself taught our very first proper lesson. Sounds easy huh? Well not when it was being filmed for a documentary done by a famous Thai TV star!!! What a way to start teaching :p We were told to do the English lesson because we were the English volunteers and we were wondering if they had gone crazy as we had never taught a lesson or any of those students before! We did it though. It was a bit weird as we had to rehearse the lesson with the students so on the final day, it felt a bit fake as they all knew the answers and what to do but that might have been better than having their blank faces filmed when they couldn't understand us as they don't know much English. That morning we were both a nervous wreck and when the film crew all turned up with their huge camera's and fuzzy microphone thing we had to do a lot to stop ourselves from running out of the room screaming for England! One good thing was that the famous Thai TV star who was doing the documentary was very good looking ;) We taught the kids different occupations and then did some games and it all went really well :) At the end we were told to sing a song with all and we decided to do the Hokey Cokey! The Hokey Cokey with 16 year olds! It went really well and they all had a laugh. The only problem was that when the 'And shake yourself about' came around, the camera was on Clem and myself which probably doesn't look very flattering :p Oh well. We then watched the Chinese lesson and then were able to get into some picture with the TV star which was pretty good especially as one was on Clem's camera so we will have a copy :) We later found out that they all wanted to interview Clem and myself but as we couldn't speak Thai, they didn't :( Well, that was the morning over and done with. Not something you do every day I suppose.
The final things to add in happened on the same night. These are the dance at the retirement party and P-Oil's farewell party. The dance happened first and we had to spend a whole day in the TVET centre having our hair and make-up done. It was good at it was nice and cool but it got a bit boring at times. To start with, we had our hair done. First, it was put into a ponytail on the top of our heads and then twisted around so we had a bun on the very top of our head. Next we had three massive buns one on top of the other put on our head as well. They were really heavy and black which looked a bit funny when sat on top of my ginger head but that was remedied when some black spray on hair dye was bought! To start with it was just going onto Clem's head but our lady-boy hair and make-up artist told me to sit in such a commanding way, I couldn't refuse! So, by the end of that little adventure, to everyone out there, I had black hair like a true Thai person! Next came the make-up. It took a while and involved my face getting a few inches thicker but by the end I though I looked quite decent :) After that we had to put on our Thai dress. It involved four different parts and when on did not flatter me at all! (Some time soon I will figure out how to put pictures up for you all) Well, it was all finished and for the next few hours, I relaxed listening to my I-pod when I wasn't grabbed for pictures. I would be in a picture and then one person would change and the picture would be taken again and then another person would change as well! After a few minutes of this that picture would be over only for myself to be grabbed by another person! It's weird being so known here whereas in England nothing like this would happen! Evening eventually came and we all went out to do our dances. So many weeks of rehearsals had built up to this one night so some of us were pretty nervous especially Clem and myself. We were the third dance and when the music started we all went up and performed on stage. The only problem was that something went wrong with the music so we had no lyrics to listen to! We held it together though and danced with no lyrics until a microphone was found and the lyrics sung out by people there! It was hilarious when we left the stage and we were so happy that nothing else went wrong. Luckily we didn't show the fact that something was wrong to the audience :p Once it was all over we sat down to eat and after a while had to pose in a number of pictures and dance on stage whilst the Director was singing! It was really good as we all followed one person so we all did the same thing while other people just danced in little groups. Once it was all over, we got changed and went out for P-Oils farewell party. To start with we went to a bar and chatted and such and we then went to the I-Bar. There we must have lost some weight from the amount of dancing we did! We ended up leaving at about 3am! We danced for about 5 hours straight! I didn't know I had it in me :P
So, there are all the main and interesting things that have happened in Si Saket. Stay tuned for the next episode titled 'The Chiang Mai Experience'.
First thing to write about is the 'Car Free Day' that we took part in. Basically we heard from our friend the textiles teacher that she was taking part in this Car Free Day so we decided to join in with P-Aim, Yok Soyai and Fah Sai. We had to be out in front of SISAT college at 6.30am on a Sunday! Not the nicest time to be out especially when you have to get up at 5.15am to leave at 6! The ironic thing was that our bikes were already at the college and we were at our Hosts House and our host parents wouldn't let us walk the 2 minute walk to the college so we had to go by some other means. We started our Car Free Day being driven in a car to the college. Hmmmm. It was quite embarrassing as the people who were already there saw two white people being driven to the Car Free Day. One more way to stick out in Si Saket! :p Well we picked up our bikes and went to the front of the school to find quite a few people all out there. We were given free tops and then had to get our blood pressure taken to make sure that we were fit enough to do the bike ride! I was a tad nervous and it felt really weird but it was taken and I was told that it was good! :) My blood pressure is 110/95. WE were then able to get a drink and some food as it was breakfast and during this time, because we are the one of the only white ones in Si Saket, we had to pose for a stupid amount of photos with a banner and such. One would be taken and a few seconds later, we would be dragged of for another one! Even random people were asking to take pictures with us too!
We were meant to start at 6.30 but due to the pictures and the Mai Pen Rai of the Thai people, we didn't start till around 7.30am! Both myself and Clem had to start at the front due to our whiteness and we followed a car around the town. It was quite funny as there were a few SISAT students who sat on a train like thing which was driven by a tractor (It was different carriages all stuck together like on a beach) and when ever I was cycling next to them, they just took pictures of me! We cycled around the whole town and then stopped by the train station. I thought that it was just for a rest but then discovered that that was the end! Our Cycle Free Day, was a whole hour and a half long! Although I suppose Cycle Free Couple of Hours doesn't really have as much of an impact! :p We ended up cycling back to SISAT where we saw quite a few people sticking bikes onto the back of their pick-up trucks and driving off home! Looks like other people started off the day in a car as well which made us feel a bit better!
Next we have the first trip to Ubon Ratchathani. P-Aim, Clem and myself were all going to catch a train at around 9ish. Unfortunately we ran a bit behind time and got there after 9 so the train would have gone. We went to buy our tickets and a stroke of luck, our train arrived! It was running late so we caught in perfect time :) It was quite lucky as the next train wasn't for another hour and a half. The train journey was and hour long and I spent most of the time glued to the open window taking pictures of the worlds going by :) When we arrived to met up with P-Oil and Yok Soyai who drove there and went shopping! To start with we went to a big shopping market to look for stuff and it was really nice there mainly because it had air-con :p Next we went to a load of second hand markets which had some good cheap stuff but it was so hot that day and the markets were covered with cloth which just trapped the heat in so you practically died under there! It must have been about 35/36 degrees! A lot compared to over-cast England :p Afterwards we went to Big C for you guessed it, ice cream! It really cooled us down and prepared us for the journey back in the car where we slept for a whole hour :p
Next we have the day where Clem and myself taught our very first proper lesson. Sounds easy huh? Well not when it was being filmed for a documentary done by a famous Thai TV star!!! What a way to start teaching :p We were told to do the English lesson because we were the English volunteers and we were wondering if they had gone crazy as we had never taught a lesson or any of those students before! We did it though. It was a bit weird as we had to rehearse the lesson with the students so on the final day, it felt a bit fake as they all knew the answers and what to do but that might have been better than having their blank faces filmed when they couldn't understand us as they don't know much English. That morning we were both a nervous wreck and when the film crew all turned up with their huge camera's and fuzzy microphone thing we had to do a lot to stop ourselves from running out of the room screaming for England! One good thing was that the famous Thai TV star who was doing the documentary was very good looking ;) We taught the kids different occupations and then did some games and it all went really well :) At the end we were told to sing a song with all and we decided to do the Hokey Cokey! The Hokey Cokey with 16 year olds! It went really well and they all had a laugh. The only problem was that when the 'And shake yourself about' came around, the camera was on Clem and myself which probably doesn't look very flattering :p Oh well. We then watched the Chinese lesson and then were able to get into some picture with the TV star which was pretty good especially as one was on Clem's camera so we will have a copy :) We later found out that they all wanted to interview Clem and myself but as we couldn't speak Thai, they didn't :( Well, that was the morning over and done with. Not something you do every day I suppose.
The final things to add in happened on the same night. These are the dance at the retirement party and P-Oil's farewell party. The dance happened first and we had to spend a whole day in the TVET centre having our hair and make-up done. It was good at it was nice and cool but it got a bit boring at times. To start with, we had our hair done. First, it was put into a ponytail on the top of our heads and then twisted around so we had a bun on the very top of our head. Next we had three massive buns one on top of the other put on our head as well. They were really heavy and black which looked a bit funny when sat on top of my ginger head but that was remedied when some black spray on hair dye was bought! To start with it was just going onto Clem's head but our lady-boy hair and make-up artist told me to sit in such a commanding way, I couldn't refuse! So, by the end of that little adventure, to everyone out there, I had black hair like a true Thai person! Next came the make-up. It took a while and involved my face getting a few inches thicker but by the end I though I looked quite decent :) After that we had to put on our Thai dress. It involved four different parts and when on did not flatter me at all! (Some time soon I will figure out how to put pictures up for you all) Well, it was all finished and for the next few hours, I relaxed listening to my I-pod when I wasn't grabbed for pictures. I would be in a picture and then one person would change and the picture would be taken again and then another person would change as well! After a few minutes of this that picture would be over only for myself to be grabbed by another person! It's weird being so known here whereas in England nothing like this would happen! Evening eventually came and we all went out to do our dances. So many weeks of rehearsals had built up to this one night so some of us were pretty nervous especially Clem and myself. We were the third dance and when the music started we all went up and performed on stage. The only problem was that something went wrong with the music so we had no lyrics to listen to! We held it together though and danced with no lyrics until a microphone was found and the lyrics sung out by people there! It was hilarious when we left the stage and we were so happy that nothing else went wrong. Luckily we didn't show the fact that something was wrong to the audience :p Once it was all over we sat down to eat and after a while had to pose in a number of pictures and dance on stage whilst the Director was singing! It was really good as we all followed one person so we all did the same thing while other people just danced in little groups. Once it was all over, we got changed and went out for P-Oils farewell party. To start with we went to a bar and chatted and such and we then went to the I-Bar. There we must have lost some weight from the amount of dancing we did! We ended up leaving at about 3am! We danced for about 5 hours straight! I didn't know I had it in me :P
So, there are all the main and interesting things that have happened in Si Saket. Stay tuned for the next episode titled 'The Chiang Mai Experience'.
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