Things are looking up

This post goes back to about a week and a half ago…before teaching began.

After two nights of not so great sleep, we decided to head in to Bangkok and stay with Sam, Katie’s roommate during orientation. Surprisingly, the trip wasn’t too difficult. We grabbed a mini-van right off the highway and just said….”Bangkok?” the driver shook his head yes. There were just enough seats for Katie and I. The drive was about an hour and 10 minutes. It was sooo nice to be back in Bangkok! Ahhh….City life! We hung out with Sam and Megan for the night and enjoyed the cleanliness of their apartment. Friday, we decided we would go talk to Phil with OEG. After we finally found their office, which is in this amazing high rise downtown Bangkok, we were able to discuss our living situation with Phil and another Thai coordinator.  I felt a lot better after talking with them.

We remained in the building to enjoy an iced coffee and air conditioning; all of a sudden we hear some type of alarm going off. For the first few minutes, no one was really reacting. Then we saw people with OEG, they were on the 9^th floor. So we decided to follow them and see what was up. It was a fire drill. How strange, what are the chances a high rise office building performs their once a year fire drill the day we are there.

As we were walking to catch a bus, we walked by the US Embassy. We took a few pictures and kept walking. Well as we approached the second building for the embassy, maybe four or five security officers stopped us and with the little English they spoke tried to tell us to delete the photos we took. They also asked for our passports to make copies…good thing I had a copy of my passport with me. Kinda strange/creepy but everything was ok. Just remember no pictures of the US Embassy!

We found the van we needed to take back to Bang Plama with no problem. Getting out of Bangkok however took some time; there was a lot of traffic. I was a little nervous in the van, the driver was pretty crazy. I was especially nervous after seeing our first accident in Thailand. It was a minivan tipped over to the side….

So of course, we weren’t dropped off at the school, instead ended up getting dropped off at Tesco Lotus, did some shopping and took a tuk-tuk home. It was a tight squeeze with our groceries, but we made it work!

I wrote this post on Wednesday, October 27^th, half way through the school week after  meeting 5 sections of my students.  Monday, was a National Holiday in Thailand and most schools did not begin classes until Tuesday. Toon told us the school’s director decided the students have already had three weeks of vacation, so they can come to school on Monday. Little did I know the students would mainly be there on Monday to help clean each classroom. Monday after school, Toon and two other teachers came over to our apartment to help us set up the new beds that the school had gotten for us. I did not expect such a nice gesture! Toon expressed her concern to Katie and I that the school wants us to be happy here, especially with our living arrangements; because we will have more problems with our students. I hope she was being sarcastic when talking about the students. We also found out a western toilet will be installed in our bathroom as well. I was Skyping with Dylan at the time when Toon told us the good news; he later told me he hadn’t seen my eyes light up that much since I’ve been here. Probably because it was a complete surprise that they are getting us a “western toilet”. I definitely did not expect that!

Tuesday was our first day of what was supposed to be observing classes, rather our co-teachers made us “introduce ourselves” for the whole period. I was at a loss of words during one of my sections; that is when I wish I would have thought of Hang Man! Instead, it came to mind today and ended up working out great! It’s a great game to play to kill time and to get an idea of the students’ English level.  Plus most of the students really get in to it. I even had students come up with their own words and play with the class. We had good time!

Halloween weekend was spent in Bangkok with a group of teachers. We had a great time swapping stories of teaching and our students. Saturday I visited the weekend market and the Wat of the Leaning Buddha. Wat means temple in Thai. I shouldn’t forget to mention my crazy moped ride Saturday morning. I was a little nervous; especially when the driver starts driving on the sidewalk and jumping curbs…..and I thought Illinois drivers were bad. Nothing I’ve seen in the U.S. compares to the way Thai people drive.  A group of girls and I went to the top of a sky rise in downtown Bangkok for drinks. It was a rooftop restaurant bar called Vertigo. Absolutely amazing!!! The view was incredible!!

After that we had delicious pad Thai at a street vendor, had guacamole and free margaritas at a Mexican restaurant with amazing Halloween decorations, and rode around town in a tuk-tuk with 9 people! It was a fun night!! I guess you could say we dressed up as “Americans” for Halloween.

Sunday, Katie and I stopped at Bang Plama’s weekend mini-market filled with a variety of meats, fruits, vegetables, and clothing. Some of the more interesting things for sale included pig’s heads and live frogs.