Let's...Get....Fat!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and you all stuffed your faces with deliciousness. While you got to enjoy turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and all sorts of pie, I celebrated the holiday in a completely different manner. Rather than eating an unnecessarily large amount of baked goods and then passing out from a food coma, I went on a boat cruise in Bangkok with the EP staff and indulged in a large Thai meal. So I nibbled (read: devoured) on things such as gaang kee-o wahn geung sapbarot (green curry with shrimp and pineapple) and fried crab while taking in the beautiful sights along the Chao Phraya River. The next morning, I woke up nice and early so I could Skype with my fam while it was still officially Thanksgiving back in the States. I didn't think I would miss T-gives all that much, but after seeing everyone in one spot, I got a little sad. It was really nice talking to some of my family members that I hadn't spoken to since arriving in Thailand. 

On Friday, I only had some of my classes due to the National Buddhist Exam, so I decided to be a really cool teacher and show the students High School Musical. I wasn't sure how they would respond to it, but it was a MAJOR hit. Kru Sarah even came to join one of the showings and witnessed as the children swooned when Zac Efron came onto the screen. I loved looking over the classroom and just seeing smiles plastered onto their faces. Good thing I have the whole trilogy with me! Winning the students over, one teen heart-throb at a time. 

My relationships with the students have been getting stronger and more fun. The bonding has kicked into full gear and I am really thankful that I am in a program where I have such small classes that meet 3-4 times a week, as opposed to the other participants who have 900+ students that they meet with once a week. I have been having so much fun interacting with them, and seizing the opportunities to learn Thai from them. I've also tackled their names, which doesn't sound all that impressive after 7 weeks of teaching, but when you're dealing with Arm, Ja, Por, Benz, Liew, Tue, and Ohm (times 5), it gets a little difficult. But, I discovered that a lot of their Thai nicknames are actual Thai words, and I have been getting an absolute kick out of them. For example: Tangmo= watermelon, Tangkwa= cucumber, Noey= milk or cheese,  and Dao= star. I excitedly went over to one of the boys, Atom, while I was on my spree of figuring out the meanings and asked "Does your name mean anything in Thai?!?" and he responded "Ahh...yea. It means, like, a molecule." Oh...well, yea...same in English. But still pretty awesome. 

Sarah and I headed into Bangkok this past weekend to 1. run 45809494504 errands and 2. to complete Mission Westernize Me. #1 was fairly successful, but mission #2 was surpassed. We Westernized ourselves like none another, and gained about 7 pounds in the process. Don't judge me. It felt to great to eat foods like hummus and bagels, things I have been deprived of, and to wander around a mall, as opposed to a bustling, cramped market. A lot of the city and Siam Center was decorated for Christmas, which doesn't make too much sense, but I totally appreciated it. The Siam Mall was outrageously ginormous and there were many moments where Sarah and I would look at one another with our jaws dragging along the floor. We were in complete awe of our surroundings. We even met a Thai superstar and took a picture with him. Too bad I have zero idea of who it was, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity after seeing swarms of people gathering around him. We passed by another celebrity, but the crowd around him was too large to even attempt to pose for picture # 2.  The food court was it's own mall-It was glorious, and even had a store with lots of imported goods, so I was obviously giddily walking around, picking up all the things I've been longing for (i.e: Dr. Pepper and Honey Nut Cheerios). But, I passed on many products due to their insane prices and settled for pretzels, Reeses and cinnamon. The highlight of the day was clearly the Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks that I splurged on. It's funny how something so simple can transform you into a Christmas state of mind. Sitting in Starbucks and sipping on the red cup made me feel like I was right at home. I may or may not have went back the next day and got another one. Whoops! That night, we went way out of our way and hit up a Mexican restaurant where we absolutely destroyed some chips and salsa and chicken and cheese enchiladas.  We went back to our Thai lifestyles the next day, but it was nice to have a little break and get into the Christmas spirit a little bit. I even listened to my Christmas playlist on the ride back to The Soup. Hopefully everyone back home survived Black Friday and has started getting the Christmas decorating and baking underway. In my honor, please eat as many bags of Mint M&Ms as possible. Seriously, do it. 

      

Try Not to Kill the Children

  This past week was jam-packed and full of fun and randomness. So be warned- this post may be long. Sorry! Early in the week our co-worker, Tuke, announced to the office that all of the foreign staff's attendance was mandatory at a meeting later in the day. When 9th period rolled around, we all made our way to one of the media centers where they were setting up karaoke in what looked like a newsroom. We were then handed lyrics and told we would be singing the Loi Krathong song and it would be aired on TV on Thursday. Loi Krathong is a big celebration in Thailand where  people float krathongs on the water and dance and sing throughout the night. It is a massive celebration in Chiang-Mai, and as much as we wanted to go up North for the festivities, time would not allow it. Anyways, we horribly embarrassed ourselves on camera while singing and attempting to dance, but luckily I did not have to see the final footage, so I'll just pretend like it never happened. It was just their sick way of making fun of us farang. Unfortunately, the song is insanely catchy and has been stuck in my head for 5 days straight. Sweet.  


The day we met our coordinator during orientation, we were informed that we would be going on a camping trip with the students on Nov 18th and 19th. We were very prepared for this trip, yet we didn't receive any details until the afternoon before we left. So on Thursday, we set off on our camping trip with 200 students (the EP kids plus the Tasmanian and American exchange students) to Kanchanaburi. And by camping, I mean we stayed at a pretty sweet resort with private bungalows (and hot water!) and ate buffet style food from a restaurant. Same difference, right? When we arrived, we immediately made our way into a big function room and started the ice-breakers- Thai style. A Thai fellow started spewing out Thai commands and all of the kids laughed and followed along while Sarah and I struggled to understand a single word. It was pretty hilarious....for the first 15 minutes. It was all good fun and we looked like fools, but the ice-breaking session went on for an hour and a half. The ice was melted. We then moved on to the major "camping" portion of the trip, where the children were assigned to a group and then given 4 hours to bounce from station to station. I was told 15 minutes prior that I was in charge of "Take my Breath Out." No idea. I asked Tuke for further details and she said that I would be given a tent, and that I was to have all of the children fit into the tent, leave them there for a minute or two and then ask them about their breathing. Next, I would light incense, have them go back into the tent and leave them there. But I was informed not to light it too much because the incense is pollution and can be bad for them. Sooo you're telling me I am supposed to suffocate the children...but only a little bit? Sounds really safe. When we got to the spot, we opened the tent and found that it was a single person tent. AKA impossible for the 10 groups of 20 kids I was about to be greeting. In a last minute decision, we decided to do the Human Knot with them, which was pretty successful, and very sweaty. 

The remainder of the trip was fun and we got to go to Hellfire Pass, which was eery, interesting and beautiful all at once. Afterwards, Sarah and I got dropped off by the bus on the highway and made our way to downtown Kanchanaburi so we could extend our weekend and explore some more. I absolutely love the area and the vibes of the city and foresee myself spending many weekends there. We found ourselves a floating hostel and started our weekend away. And what better way to celebrate than by eating garlic bread and pizza and pineapple juice with Malibu?! My tastebuds were dancing with joy. It had been far too long. 

Sunset from our hostel

We had high hopes for the night because the road we were staying on looked fun and exciting, but we were kind of let down when each and every bar was fairly empty. We ended up settling onto a log bench at a Reggae bar and relaxed while watching an amazing performance by true hippies. We then moved onto a random spot near the hostel and began an incredible night. We had immediately started talking to the bartenders (a German, an Irishman and 2 Thai guys) and then expanded our chat to three backpackers from London. We all chatted as one of the bartenders cranked music from Youtube. Very normal. The reason I came here was to live this kind of life; To travel and to meet others who do the same. There is something so amazing about meeting people from all over the world and hearing their stories. And this particular group was awesome. I loved talking to the two Thai guys, On and Ammarin, because I was able to practice my Thai on them. And also- they were just great, very chill people with impeccable English. On is a tattoo artist in Kanchanaburi, sooo it's not not a possibility for me to come home with tattoo #2.  The owner of the most well-known hostel joined the fun and it was really cool talking to him about owning the hostel and hearing about all the people he has met. The hours flew by and before we knew it, it was 5am. The bar had closed long before but we were all just mingling and having a great time. Sarah and I tried to leave multiple times, but we got lured in by Thai-style doughnuts dipped in sweetened-condensed milk. I mean, obviously I couldn't refuse that. 

Two hours later, we awoke and in a zombie-state, made our way to the bus station to head to Erawan Falls. (Sidenote: a man dressed in a full denim outfit, and hair clipped back in a pink claw sat in front of us with his two roosters). We bumped into two other girls who live in The Soup and the four of us hiked up the seven tiers and saw truly breathtaking sights and swam in the refreshing water.  Each level of the water fall was so beautiful and I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't fake. All of the falls had fish in them but we sucked it up and swam on the 5th level. And the fish don't leave you alone. They eat the dead skin off of your feet so they were all about attacking our toes. GROSS! It felt weird and I didn't embrace the free pedicure. We also saw some not-so-breathtaking sights, like the heaps of Europeans hiking in their speedos and their platform wedges. I was actually kind of impressed- it was a steep and rocky hike! Oh- and there were monkeys. And we all know how I feel about monkeys. So I was kind of freaked out when they were swinging from the branches above me. 

Roosters!?!YIKES

Monkey VS Dog

Level 3 of the Waterfall

Adorable, right?

After our long day of hiking, we took the hour and a half bus ride back to the bus station and made the run for our lives to catch the last bus back to The Soup. We barely made it...it was literally pulling away, but we squeezed on. And I mean SQUEEZED. There were about 4 people to a seat and the aisle was overflowing. I may or may not have spent the first 45 minutes of the bus ride hanging onto the door handle, really hoping I wouldn't fall out (the door was open, mind you). But we made it back and I had a glorious night of sleep. 

     I can confidently say that yesterday was the first 'normal' day I've had in Thailand since arriving. I got my morning coffee, ran some errands, watched some American TV and chillaxed. Sarah and I found a random carnival at night and explored and then went downtown to celebrate Loi Krathong. The river was a spectacle, with the lit krathongs floating and long canoes with people dressed in traditional Thai costume dancing to the music. The whole area was bumping and I even got to light and release a sky lantern! In true Thai-form, there was an outrageous fireworks display and lots and lots of food. All in all, a great time and a great way to finish up a fun week. 

                  

Wat Up Ayutthaya

Hola! I think it's safe to say that Sarah's birthday was a success! I had assigned all of my classes (80 students total) to make Kru Sarah a birthday card for homework. I was a little nervous since they fail to do any other homework assignment, but almost all of them showed off their artistic skills (and lack of English) by creating beautiful cards. Boolakashan! 

On Friday, I was told I would have to miss two of my classes to go to the hospital for a check-up to get cleared by a doctor. Just one of many steps in attaining a work visa. One of our Thai teachers, Kru Phon, would be assisting us and translating everything. I was secretly excited for the trip just so I could familiarize myself with the Suphanburi hospital just in case I ever needed to go there. Well...I really hope I never have to go there. Ever. From the moment you walk in, it is chaos. First of all, everything is in Thai and there are no English signs anywhere and no one speaks English. All of the staff are wearing masks and the waiting room looks like a train terminal....if a train terminal had masked patients on stretchers amidst those anxiously awaiting their turn. They take your vitals in the waiting room, so it was really fun to have about 200 Thai people staring at me as my weight and blood pressure were being taken. We were then shuffled from room to room to get various tests, including a chest X-ray from a machine from the 1950s. Sidenote: I am still very crooked. Thanks, scoliosis...you rock. Then Kru Phon said "Okay, now they are going to check your butt." ....Umm what? "They are going to check your butt." Sarah and I nervously giggled and insisted "Mai butt! No no!" After some back and forth debate and some miming, we realized she meant "They are going to check your blood." Muuuch better. We then made our way to the final doctor after passing some prisoners in some hardcore chains to get our final clearance. I had been getting some intense vertigo the past few days, and I am traumatized by my brain virus a few years back, so I took the opportunity to tell the doctor while I was already there. I had Phon tell him I was dizzy, and hoped he knew some English to communicate with me. Our convo went as follows:


Doctor: You're dizzy?
Me: Yes...vertigo. Does that mean anything?
Doctor: Do you have hearing loss?   (Yes! He knew what he was talking about!)
Me: No hearing loss. But I had vestibular neuronitis 3 years ago (wrote it down on paper,too) so I was concerned. 
Doctor: Are you having an asthma attack? 


Awesome. Epic fail. But he gave me some Japanese meds so I guess it wasn't a complete failure. 


On Saturday morning, Sarah and I hopped on a bus and headed up to Ayutthaya, an ancient city in Thailand. It was an amazing city and an amazing trip. We got off the bus and found ourselves a sweet hostel. The woman in charge spoke perfect English and was incredibly helpful. AND THERE WAS HOT WATER!!! I took my first hot shower in a month and it was GLORIOUS. Anyways, we hired a tuk-tuk for a few hours and he took us from Wat to ruins to Wat to reclining Buddhas to elephants. The sights were just unbelievable and it is so impressive that some of the structures are still standing from the 1400s. We also took a longtail boat ride at sunset and saw some more temples. The flooding was very apparent on this tour, as we couldn't even get off the boat to see one of the temples, and we saw a lot of houses still somewhat under water. I even saw a few people fishing from their front doors. 

Buddha Love

Sunset Boatride

Hipstamatic

 On Sunday, we continued our explorations around a few more sites (and obviously went jumping picture crazy) and hit up the market in the city center before jumping on a bus back to The Soup. We were both completely and utterly exhausted after our weekend of walking, jumping and exploring in 90+ degree weather and were happy to get home yesterday afternoon. Although, I did have some lesson planning to do, but I was able to tweak watching a scene from Transformers. Hollllllla!

Matching fisherman pants!

The elephant is totally into my jump

Apartment Address

Yoo Dee Mee Suk Apartment

2 Dabpahpean Rd,

Thapeeleang, Mueng 

Suphanburi, Thailand 72000

All of the past participants have received their mail at the apartment, so it is just another option for sending mail if you feel inclined to love me :)

Also- want to give a BIG birthday shout-out to Srall!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We get to celebrate by going to a big party for the American and Tasmanian exchange students that are in the EP right now. Fun! 

100% Deet is My Best Friend

The battle with the bugs continues and I am currently destroying them as I type this. My multi-tasking skills are pretty top-notch. My room is covered in 100% deet, so they better JUMP BACK. 

This past week was spent really getting to know Suphanburi and all that it has to offer. We were able to show off The Soup to some friends who came in from Bangkok this past weekend, but we benefited just as much from the tour, since it was our first weekend actually spent in our new hometown. We spent some time roaming the streets, looking at the local sites, hitting up the local bars (where we discovered some amazing live bands), and heading over to the 100 Year Old Market in Samchuk. At the market, we randomly and luckily had a pseudo tour guide. Baer (sp?), a girl we had met the night prior, happened to be at the market and provided us with a really unique experience despite her lack of English. She kept handing us free food, including the Suphan Sali cake that I've been eager to try (YUM) and some spicy fish pot. She also kind of pushed us onto a random riverboat that brought us down to an extremely old house. There was live music on the boat just for us, and the house was incredible. 

 

 

After ordering our dinner for us, Baer drove all 7 of us home...in her pick-up truck. It was awesome! My hair never looked so beautiful. I looked verrrry Motley Crue afterwards. I was completely blown away with her generosity throughout the entire day. We hadn't even known her 24 hours and she was so willing to show us around. Man, are Thai people nice. 


So last week, the EP staff was told that we would be attending the Suphanburi Opening Games the coming Tuesday. It really meant nothing to me because I had no clue what they were. Even after a Google search, nothing came up (along with anything else related to Suphan). Ooook. Tuesday comes around and I still have no idea what to expect. Even if I had been told, I still would have been blown away. I can only describe the Opening Games as the Olympics Opening Ceremony meets the Fourth of July meets a Justin Bieber concert meets the Fisherman's Feast in the North End. There were performances by the three biggest Thai popstars, the ex-Prime Minister sat in the section next to us, all of the schools of Suphanburi put on an amazingly beautiful performance (I got a little emotional), there was a GIANT parade and a fireworks spectacular. So spectacular in fact, that Sarah was set on fire and has a hole in her skirt. I wish I could explain the night, but we'll leave it at that. It was a great night and I was very lucky to have been part of it. 

This week marks the one month anniversary of being in Thailand and I cannot believe how far I've come along since Day One. I've made new friends, settled into a new home, completely changed my diet and I'm officially a high school teacher. Crazy! I thought to celebrate the big marker, I'd make a list...because, really, who doesn't love a good list?


Things I LOVE:
- The food (street vendors galore, pineapple dipped in sugar and chili flakes, coconut ice cream, Thai Iced coffee). 
-the people. Thai people are just the nicest, friendliest bunch and I heart them.
-traveling ( I get to meet awesome people and see incredible sights. No complaints here)
-the kids! (I'm totally loving my students)
-baht (I'm over the dollar)
-having conversations where I speak English and the other speaks Thai but somehow it works
-the Mai Pen Rai attitude
-markets everywhere you go


Things I'm Adjusting To:
-lack of resources at school
-Mopeds. Still 96% sure I will get hit by one
-The bed. It is as hard as a rock, but I have to admit- I have yet to wake up with a sore back. And I have a very picky back.
-The Bugs. I've welcomed the ants, but now these dang gnats are everywhere. 
-karaoke
-being barefoot ALL OF THE TIME.
-K-Pop and Thai Pop. 


Things I Miss (besides people...don't worry, Mom-  I miss you):
-Hot showers. I don't like dreading showers.
-No option of working out (I am by no means a fit person but it was nice to have the option to go to a gym, go running or take a dance class). No where to be seen here. 
-American snacks. Not the meals...just the cheese snacks and obscene amount of chocolate I liked to eat on a daily basis.
-Baking. It was once my addiction. I have yet to see a brownie here. 
-Clean dogs. The stray dogs are just really heartbreaking/disturbing/gross. 


I am absolutely in love with being here and I could seriously make a list 10 pages long of the things I enjoy, but that'd just be obnoxious. Month 1 has gone really well and I can't even imagine what sort of adventure is in store for me in the next 11 months. 

Build Me Up Buttecup

I'm getting into the groove of teaching and really started to dig my role in the classroom. I have about 85 students total and I am still struggling to get their names. I mean, it's pretty hard when the kids' nicknames are Arm, Four, Nine, Ping-Pong, Eye, Prae, Bass, Ganphet and Ohm. But then you get your random Pat or Kate, which just doesn't match. I am determined to know everyone's name by the end of the month. Yikes! They are all so adorable and I can already feel myself picking favorites. I know, I know....that's bad, but some of them are just so dang cute. 
This week has actually been pretty busy between teaching, signing contracts, making lesson plans and getting initiated into the Sa-nguan Ying School. On Tuesday morning, Sarah and I, along with the 3 other Americans in the "normal" school, had to introduce ourselves to the entire school of 2600 students during their opening ceremony/announcements. All of the children line up and surround a main stage out on the front lawn while some pretty stellar Thai music blares out on the loud speakers. The 5 of us stood up on stage and introduced ourselves one by one to the entire school. I tried to show off what little Thai skills I had by saying "Hi my name is Nell. I come from Americaaa" (Sawatdee, ka. Chan chue Nell. Chan ma ja Americaaa.) I think it went over pretty well. We were then presented with a bunch of white roses and the school pin. Love it! 
On Thursday night, the English Program staff had a welcoming dinner for Sarah and I. We got picked up at our apartment and made our way to a Chinese restaurant on the other side of town. Good food, good company, and guess what? There was karaoke. Shocker! We had been forewarned that we would have to sing, so we really had no choice but to embrace it. After one of the older Tasmanians sang 'Barbie Girl' with one of the Thai teachers, we sang 'Build Me Up Buttercup.' Back in the States, I would refuse to sing karaoke (and I had a lot of opportunities at a certain family members house:) ), but here it is no big deal. There is a lot of pressure in the lead-up and people will chant your name until you sing, but the moment the song starts, no one pays attention. Some people take it pretty seriously and will sit themselves in front of the screen and just sing by themselves. 
On Thursday and Friday the EP had a conference run by Apple. Some of it was pretty interesting and some of it was really funny. At one point, I was tied to three of my coworkers and we were trying to make our way to the other side of room, but with obstacles in the way. Weird. The oddest part about the whole conference was that the students were still in class... but we were not. And there were no subs. I gave them an assignment and I am so curious to see if anyone did it come Monday. I popped my head into one of the classes and they were all sitting like little angels. Really? Because that would NEVER happen in the States. 
Well it's Saturday morning and Iced Coffee is calling my name. Ive gone a good 5 days without it, soooo that needs to change immediately. 


Random thoughts:
- Ants are started to become my friend. Not by choice.
-I have an unhealthy addiction to Hershey's Cookies and Cream nuggets. I was told directly by Hershey's that they were discontinued. SUCKER PLEASE!
-We went to a market the other night and they had little bitty puppies and bunnies...in cute little frilly dresses...and cute little 8 year olds were selling them. Cuteness overload! It would come as no surprise if one of them are in my possession in the next 3 months. 


And just to remind you of it's gloriousness (and it's raunchiness)....enjoy!


Barbie Girl