Pattaya

December 10th is Constitution Day in Thailand, so we had a long weekend to enjoy after a short week. This teaching thing is pretty easy when you never have school! Before I talk about our long weekend (which was interesting to say the least..) I have to mention that I have officially been here 2 months as of December 10th.  It definitely evoked some mixed feelings for me, I cannot believe how fast my time here is flying by but at the same time it seems strange to think I still have 4 months away from home. I have had twangs of homesickness from time to time because the Holidays are my favorite time of year and I am sad to be missing out on my favorite traditions; decorating the tree, solstice!!, and of course, CAROLING! So I just want to say that even though I am across the world, I am thinking of all of my friends and family everyday! I miss everyone so much, so promise me that Christmas 2013 will be filled with doubled amounts of holly and jolly! I still have so much to look forward to here in Thailand (like our trip to Phuket!!!) and I am so thankful for this experience.

That being said, our trip to Pattaya was certainly not my favorite. We decided relatively last minute where we wanted to travel to for the long weekend, so we booked the hostel on a whim and decided to spend the night in Bangkok on Friday for a friend's birthday. Bangkok was really fun, but the 8:45 AM alarm to rise and roast at the beach was not quite as enjoyable.  Between hangovers, traffic, and the fact that it was a long weekend, we didn't end up arriving at Pattaya until after 5 pm (what should have been a 3 hour journey took all day)! After a long, long day of traveling I was excited to shower and relax at the hostel. Boy was I mistaken. When we arrived, the room was filled with previous guests' toiletries and half drunken water bottles. The woman who showed us to our room realized the sheets were still dirty so she took them off in front of us and left the dirty ones on a chair. The bathroom was really bad, filled with buckets of old water and mud covering the floor. We went downstairs to see how everyone else was feeling about the place, and when we returned to our room, there were ants everywhere. I am not a high maintenance person- but this was not okay with me. Alexis, Faith, and I decided we couldn't sleep there and we booked a nice hotel located on another beach.

After a process to find the hotel, we arrived to our clean haven of a hotel. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool, and our shower had its own area in the bathroom!! After showering, it was the cleanest I have felt in Thailand since my arrival. The next day, we woke up early to hit the beach. When I read online that Pattaya was a popular Russian destination I didn't register just how many Russians there would be at the beach. The signs on restaurants were in Thai and Russian- and all of the tourist places tried speaking to me in Russian.

The beach itself was very narrow and very crowded. There was garbage floating in the water from the restaurants along the beach and the Thai vendors on the beach were very aggressive with their bed sheets and sweet corn, none of which I wanted to purchase while trying to sunbathe... After a few hours of an awkward attempt to enjoy the beach, it started to get cloudy so returned to the hotel to enjoy the pool. Ah clean water!! It was so refreshing and relaxing.

Sunday night we decided to visit the famous Walking Street in Pattaya. In most cities/towns in Thailand, a walking street is a tourist destination to buy souvenirs, enjoy local Thai food, and visit outdoor bars. In Pattaya, the "sin city" of Thailand, walking street means strippers, sex shows, and hookers. There was similar memorabilia for sale at all of the markets along the street, and everyone was just trying to make a buck- ripping tourists off like I have never seen. Taxis refused to use meters...  I took a photo of a monkey on the street and a man chased me down demanding 100 baht!! The whole place had a very strange vibe and while at first the whole thing was very fascinating, after a few hours I became very disturbed and depressed by the whole place and we decided to head back to the comfort of our hotel. Our last day in Pattaya was enjoyed pool-side at our hotel.

Overall, Pattaya was my least favorite destination so far. After looking at pictures of trips to Koh Chang and Dolphin's Bay, I realized that we chose the wrong place for a relaxing beach weekend. Oh well, you live and learn and now we have some very interesting stories to share from Pattaya. Next stop: Phuket!!!! Alexis, Faith and I are traveling to Kata and Patong beaches in Phuket to celebrate Christmas and New Years on the beach! Very excited for our 10 day vacation.

Happy Holidays from Thailand!!

 The only beautiful thing I saw in Pattaya.. Sunset Night 1

 Island View Beach

 Marsi Hotel pool... our savior. 

"Make a face about how you feel about Pattaya"

 Walking Street

 

Just a sample of what we saw that night... 

Kanchanaburi/Father's Day

To kick off the month of December, Alexis and I headed back to Kanchanaburi (where we rode elephants during orientation) to visit the famous Erawan National Park. This is a beautiful waterfall with seven levels to hike and swim about. It is located about 45 minutes outside Kanchanaburi's town center. 

Our journey to Kanchanaburi was relatively simple as far as traveling in Thailand goes. We took a taxi to a nearby town where 6 of our friends from orientation were placed. Then we had to take a bus to the major city in our province, Nakhon Pathom, where we switched bus lines and finally set out for Kanchanaburi, which is about 3 hours away. We arrived in the town around dinner time, so we settled into the hostel and explored the backpackers street where we were staying. The street was pretty fun with outdoor bars, live music, and western food restaurants. My personal favorite on the street were these makshift bars. They were literally coolers on wheels, placed randomly on the side of the road with buckets turned upside down as seats. They had a variety of liquor and mixers in their traveling freezers and all drinks (including shots) were 10 baht. 10 baht!!! That's the equivalent of 33 cents!! We spent a majority of the night there, surrounded by street dogs and yet it was very enjoyable.

The next morning we woke up and had WESTERN breakfast!! Pancakes have literally never tasted so good. I do enjoy thai food but every once in a while I need familiar tastes from home. The apple pancakes were delicious and it was the perfect fuel for the long hike ahead. 

Although we had hiked a waterfall in Chiang Mai, this hike was just as beautiful and enjoyable. There were many more tourists at the waterfall in Kanchanaburi, which provided entertainment and horror as Europeans have much more self confidence than Americans and are not afraid to flaunt what they got. People watching was just as entertaining as the beautiful scenery. It was quite a sight. 

I knew the waterfall had great levels for swimming and some even had natural water falls to slide into the pools. I had been looking forward to the waterfall for about 2 weeks, and it wasn't until we arrived at the falls that I learned the pools were filled with biting fish !! Anyone who knows me knows that this is NOT my style. I am terrified of water creatures- especially biting ones!! I was so disappointed because I had been really looking forward to swimming, but I was so anxious and terrified at the idea of them biting me. When we arrived to the water slide level, I watched as my friends dove in and squealed when the fishies bit. I stood on a rock for 25 minutes, trying to prep myself and pinch myself for the bites to come. I finally mustered up the courage to jump in, but when I stood up my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I was truly afraid of jumping in- some of them were pretty big too!! All of a sudden a little European boy came swimming straight for my rock and started climbing out of the water- if I didn't dive in now I would have been pushed off by this aggressive child! I closed my eyes, counted to 3 and dove in. The second I hit the water I kicked and swam as fast as I could and headed straight for the waterfall. I didn't get bit !!! I had made it safe and sound! I went down the waterfall slide two times- It was really, really cool and I was SO proud of myself for going in. Each time I slid down the slide, I instantly swam out of the water but I tackled my fear and I am so happy I did because the slide was really cool.

After the water slides, we continued hiking through the beautiful (jungle? forest? it was unclear) towards the top of the waterfall. Along the path, we saw wild monkeys climbing through the tree tops. It was really cool to see them in their natural habitat, minding their own business and being super cute!! Overall the waterfall was a really fun day, it was a really beautiful national park and the hike itself was really fun. 

Saturday night we found a pizzeria, which I was super happy about, and revisited the 10 baht shot bar. Sunday we went to the markets located near the bridge over the rive Kwae and it was cool because I actually got to see a train pass over the bridge. After lunch at a delicious vegetarian restaurant, we headed back to the bus top and headed home. Another weekend that went by too fast! It wasn't too bad heading home though because we had a short week to look forward to.

Wednesday of the next week was Father's Day in Thailand, which is also the King's Birthday. It is a national holiday in Thailand where all of Thailand celebrates and expresses their love for the King. It was cool to see a lot of people wearing Yellow, the color of the King, and at night there were shows of fireworks, Thai boxing, and traditional Thai dancing. I am absolutely fascinated by the culture in Thailand and I am really happy I got to see the celebration and learn more about Thai culture.

 Hanging out in a cave on the upper levels of the waterfall

 Exploring the falls

 Conquered the fear and went down the slide! 

 Loving my walking stick

 The group

 Beautiful Thailand

 Fun rocks and falls

 Monkeys!!!

 Jungle? Forest?

Train crossing the bridge over the river Kwae

Loy Krathong Festival

Every year in November, Thailand celebrates Loy Krathong festival, which is a festival of lights to thank the water gods. Thai people have explained to me that water is such an important part of everyday life- this festival is a way to give back to the Gods of Water and express the appreciation for water in Thailand. Different regions celebrate this festival with varying traditions. The most famous tradition is the floating lanterns being released into the sky in Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, Chiang Mai is too far away from Salaya for a day trip, so Alexis and I couldn't attend that festival, but we were pleased to discover that the University and the park located in our town were both holding ceremonies for the celebration.

We attended the festival with the 3 Thai University students who are serving as teachers' aids this semester at our school and observing how to teach. Their names are Eye, Som, and Ice and it was a great bonding experience to celebrate the festival with local Thai teenagers. We started at the celebration at Mahidol University, where there were fireworks and a competition similar to "Miss America" but the contestants were all dressed in traditional Thai costume. The University was celebrating Loy Krathong with the banana leaf lanterns that float in the water. The lanterns were very beautiful- all hand made and decorate with flowers and candles, but my eyes kept looking to the sky- hoping to see some floating lanterns. Alexis and I have been dying to see these lanterns for months, and lucky for us- we were able to experience the peaceful beauty of the floating lanterns.


At the local park, Phra Phutthamonthon, they were selling the floating lanterns and people were releasing them into the sky. Ice explained to me that its a way of releasing your sins and asking for forgiveness. As a group, we bought 4 lanterns and watching them float through the sky was one of the most simple, yet truly beautiful things I have ever seen. Eye said to me, "In my dreams, this is heaven." It was really amazing to share this cultural festival with Thai people and I am so grateful that I was able to participate. After we released our floating paper lanterns, we also purchased our own banana leaf lanterns and released them into the river. Overall, it was truly an amazing night and one that I will remember for a long time. Sometimes the most simple things have the biggest impression and the simplicity and peacefulness of this festival is by far my favorite experience that I have had in Thailand to date.

 Blurry- it was very difficult to capture the lanterns but it was so beautiful seeing them across the sky

 Alexis and I with our banana leaf lanterns to release into the river !

 My river lantern

 Floating lanterns in the sky and on the river. Reminded me of the floating lights in tangled :) 

 Lanterns on the river

 Releasing our floating lantern ! 

Teaching in Thailand

So I figured I would write a post about teaching, since that is the primary reason for this trip (on paper anyway... the primary reason is really to experience a new culture and beautiful scenery but you get what I'm saying..)

I am teaching at Kanchanapisek Wittayala Nakhon Pathom Phratamnak Suankulap Matthayom school, Kanchanapisek for short. This is a public secondary school in Phutthamonthon, Nakhon Pathom Thailand.
Our school colors are purple and yellow, which are the colors of the princess because this school was a gift from the King to his daughter. There are just over 1,000 students at this school ranging from (U.S. equivalent) 7th-12th grade. In Thailand they are called Matthayom levels 1-6. I teach Matthayom 1, Matthayom 5, and Matthayom 6 which gives me a total of 21 classes a week. With my M. 1 students I teach english conversation and always try to wrap up the class with some sort of game.

My M.5 and M.6 students are learning english reading and writing which means that I have to teach them grammar and basic writing structure. Lets just say that my students aren't the only ones learning from these lesson plans... I basically had to re-learn sentence structure and sometimes my students have to correct me...oops...

Overall I am really enjoying teaching english to these kids. Some of my students are more advanced than others so engaging with the quiet ones or the rowdy ones is a daily struggle, but there is something pleasantly rewarding when you see that "aha" moment on a students face, like they all of a sudden understand what you're teaching and they're so pleased with themselves for figuring it out. I try to be as patient as I can with them, but when paper planes are being thrown out the window, or rulers are being thrown at other students, or badminton rackets are being smacked around... I get frustrated. Some of these kids are crazy ! And some of my M. 1s are so cute and well behaved... you just never know what each class is going to bring.

I really enjoy getting to know my students by asking them an attendance question every day about their interests. Its surprising how many of them love American musicians and films. Alexis and I also teach "english club" on Fridays with students who elected to take an extra english course. Last week we had a sing along to Justin Bieber's "Baby" and this week the girls have to coordinate a dance to perform for us, so most of the classroom experiences are positive !

Thai schools are very different than American schools. For one thing, they leave the doors open to all the classes and the hallways are like outdoor walkways (like at a motel). I only have 1 class in an air conditioned classroom, but thankfully our foreign language office has AC! The other biggest difference is the morning ceremony. Every morning the students gather outdoors in our "courtyard" where the Thai National Anthem is played as well as our school song. They also say a prayer every morning and various teachers make announcements about upcoming events at school. Sometimes the morning ceremony can last up to 45 minutes which is pretty brutal when you are standing outside in 90 degree weather at 8 am and you don't understand an ounce of Thai, but its interesting to learn about the cultural differences. Our first full week teaching, Alexis and I had to introduce ourselves to the entire school at the morning ceremony and accept a gift from the director. It was pretty intimidating !

Our students wear uniforms and have to keep their hair a certain way depending on their age. M. 1- M.4 female students have to keep their hair in a short bob between their ears and chin and must wear it down to school. M.5 and M.6 girls wear their hair longer, and pulled back in a pony tail with a bow. Mondays at school is "formal attire" so the students must wear these special hats to school and the Thai teachers wear brown suits. On Tuesdays, the students wear pink polo shirts with our school's logo. On Fridays, the students who participate in boy or girl scouts must wear their scout uniforms. Its very interesting to see how strict they are about these uniforms, I have seen teachers cut girls hair at the morning ceremony if it was too long! Also, every morning when the students arrive they must salute the teachers on welcome duty and have their uniforms inspected. The foreign language department has to greet them on Mondays so we have to be at school by 6:45 am... which means I have to buy a delicious iced coffee from our canteen for only 10 baht !

So far, teaching has been very enjoyable. I really like my students and the other teachers in our faculty are very kind and helpful. It is a very tiring job but it keeps me busy and I am really thankful for this experience. Hopefully I can say the same thing in March when the semester is over !

Introducing ourselves at the morning ceremony week 1 ! 

New teachers with the director week 1- most of them are university students teaching at our school for a semester as a type of "co-op" 

Kanchanapisek

Courtyard where we stand every morning for the ceremony- at least its in the shade! Sort of...

"Cold" Chiang Mai !

Our students had a 3 day boy and girl scout camp so Alexis and I took the opportunity of a 5 day weekend to visit the northern city of Chiang Mai. Everyone at school told us Chiang Mai was very "cold" - literally every single teacher told us it "Chiang Mai- very cold!" Well, as you will see in my photos, 90 degrees every day is not cold and I was dripping sweat every day... but the city was very beautiful and we were able to cram a lot of fun activities in the 5 days we were there.

The first thing I noticed about Chiang Mai was how much greener the city was than Bangkok. When we landed, there were beautiful mountains covered with trees in the distance. The city itself has a lot of trees and gardens and it felt really nice to be surrounded by nature rather than dust and old buildings.

The city was way more low key than Bangkok and also very easy to walk around. It was very funny to see "western" restaurants everywhere, with mexican, italian, and american food. While we were in Chiang Mai we treated ourselves to burritos, nachos, and I even tried their version of buffalo chicken ! We had a good mix of thai food as well but it was nice to mix it up and eat some familiar foods from home. There were so many tourists in Chiang Mai it was shocking to see so many 'farangs' walking around because here in Salaya, everyone stares at us for being the only foreigners.

Our first night in Chiang Mai we walked around and explored, and went to the backpackers square of bars and restaurants. It was nice to hear live music and we chatted with some other travelers. We had a long day ahead of us though because we wanted to make sure we did as much as possible during our stay. So the next day we woke up and headed for the main gate where public taxis wait to take tourists to some of the famous spots. Our first destination was Wat Doi Suthep, a very famous temple located on a mountain outside the city. The temple was a beautiful structure and had amazing buddha statues everywhere. We also had the privilege of being blessed by a monk during our visit which is very good luck here in Thailand.

After Doi Suthep, we visited the Chiang Mai zoo, whose main attraction is panda bears!! I don't think I have ever seen a panda bear before, so I was extremely excited. There were also Koala bears and a bunch of other cool animals like white tigers, panthers, jaguars, and giraffes. It was so hot walking around the zoo but it was so fun to see the animals- especially the pandas!

Sunday was a very busy day, after the zoo we went to the Chiang Mai Walking Street which is a huge night market with tons of souvenirs, food, jewelry and clothes. Alexis and I stayed from open-close and loved looking at all the different stands. We had really great street food for dinner - my personal favorite was the banana-nutella crepe that I found !! One of my signature favorites :)

Monday was another busy day! In keeping with the animal theme, we visited Tiger Kingdom, where you get to play with tigers inside their cages! Alexis and I chose to play with the baby tigers because they were sooo cute... it was a little sad because the animals were sleeping the whole time (I think they were given tranquilizers :( ) so I probably wouldn't go back, but it was a once in a lifetime experience to pat a baby tiger! Towards the end of our visit, our little guy woke up and was walking around- he had the cutest little baby face ! It was really cool. After the tigers, Alexis and I walked around the Old City and at night, Alexis got a traditional Thai tattoo using bamboo instead of a tattoo gun. She says it didn't hurt, and watching the tattoo artist use the bamboo was actually very interesting. She got the number 5 in sanskrit because there are 5 members of her family, and the number 5 is said to represent travel, independence, and new experiences. No tattoos for me !!

Tuesday we ventured outside the city and did a nature hike at Mae Sa waterfall. It was really cool because the waterfall has 10 levels where you can stop and admire the river and the surrounding nature. Some of the levels were flat with lots of rocks, and others were very steep with beautiful trees and bamboo surrounding it. Again, I was dripping sweat so level 10 was very refreshing to stop and put my feet in the cool water. It felt really good to be in nature, although some of the bugs we saw were terrifying !!

Tuesday nigh we visited the famous night bazaar, which is another huge outdoor market in Chiang Mai. After our hike, we were tired and didn't really have the motivation to shop, but in one of the buildings we saw an ad for a free "Cabaret Show" and Alexis and I were sold- Thai drag queens? What could be more entertaining??! The show was hilarious, with Whitney Houston and Beyonce impersonators and some very crazy outfits. It was very entertaining.

Our last day in Chiang Mai, Wednesday, we decided to take a Thai cooking course. This was probably my favorite activity of our trip. Our cooking instructor, Ann, was very funny calling spicy food "sexy food" and making some sexual innuendos about mashing curry paste. Her english was excellent which made the cooking course that much easier. We made friends with 2 older british ladies and 2 women from Vermont. The cooking class was great because Ann gave us an overview of Thai spices and even took us on a tour at the local market to see where you could buy the ingredients.

As a group we chose to make curry, stir fry, and soup. Within each category we had 4 choices of what meal we actually wanted to cook. I chose Panang Curry as my curry-  which is a sweet curry with a peanut and coconut base. The curry was absolutely delicious- probably my favorite thing I have eaten so far here in Thailand. The soup I chose to make was kind of bland... everyone else who chose my soup was disappointed but it was still interesting to learn. The stir fry I chose was pad thai with chicken and tofu (I have become a big fan of tofu because a lot of things here are made with seafood and I needed to mix up my chicken and rice routine). The pad thai was very good and it was interesting to learn how to make such a traditional Thai dish. Overall, the cooking course was great and I learned that I am very good at chopping and dicing vegetables. As a souvenir, we got to take home a cook book of everything on their menu so maybe when I return to the states I can practice my new skills.

Wednesday afternoon we headed to Chiang Mai airport and headed back to Bangkok. We got home at around 8:15 and had to start preparing for school the next day. So far Chiang Mai has been my favorite place in Thailand. With its natural beauty and historic temples, it was really cool to see a new region of Thailand and become familiar with a new city. I definitely want to return to the northern areas of Thailand, and look forward to seeing more of this amazing country.

 View from the plane when we landed in Chiang Mai.

Wat Doi Suthep

Monk blessing at Doi Suthep

Pandas!!!!

 Baby Tiger at Tiger Kingdom!

Mae Sa Waterfall

Thai Drag Queens- Hilarious 

The Pad Thai I made at Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School

Just making some curry

 Panang Curry and weird soup I made at Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School

Hua Hin Beach Get Away

After 3 days of teaching, Alexis and I needed a mini-vacation so we headed South to the historic town of Hua Hin. It was supposed to be a 3 hour train ride, but everyone here is on Thai time so it took a little longer than expected, with a 45 minute stop at Nakhon Pathom station for breakfast. We were able to explore the area around the station and found out there was a very famous temple not far away.
When we arrived in Hua Hin we discovered its a very small town, and primarily tourists. It was actually kind of comforting seeing so many other farangs (the Thai word for "westerners") around. After plopping our things at the hostel, Alexis and I hit the beach where we enjoyed a beautiful scene of white sand, palm, trees, and awesome cliffs in the distance. It felt amazing to be able to cool off in the water- we were swimming in the Gulf Of Thailand which was way warmer than the good ol' Atlantic.
After the beach, we explored the restaurants down by the water and stumbled upon this great outdoor bar with live music. It felt so good to relax and walk around with an ocean breeze. Hua Hin is also known for its large night markets, where Alexis and I found some cool souvenir type things.
The next day we woke up early to have a full day on the beach. We spent 90% of the day in the water because it was so hot. For lunch, it was way too hot to think of eating curry or noodles, so we caved and had a traditional American lunch at the local Subway. Let me tell you, a sandwich with cheese never tasted so good !
Overall, the weekend was exactly what we needed and it was great to be able to explore a new area of Thailand. Of course it wouldn't be a trip without a downfall, and we missed our train stop home ! "Mai ben rai" is the phrase Thais say to just go with it, so after a little fit of frustration, it all worked out and we got off at the next stop and took a cab back to our apartment. Now we have to tackle our fist official week teaching! I have a feeling Hua Hin will be a frequent weekend trip for us :)

Temple stop in Nakhon Pathom 

Settling In!

After we met our coordinators at the Louis Tavern Hotel, we were off to Phutthamonthon to see where we would be living for the next 6 months. The coordinators from our school were so friendly and nice, they took us out to a nice dinner and were very accommodating the opposite food ranges that Alexis and I eat.
Our apartment is SO nice, with wifi, a balcony, and AC. We share a not-so cozy bed but other than that there is tons of space. Its a bit of a hike to reach the downtown area, and the heat it is a less than pleasant walk, but I can't complain because everything around us is very safe and very cheap. Our town has markets, a small supermarket, and lots of small local restaurants  There is also a University down the street which has a gym, and an awesome outdoor market on Fridays.
The teachers at our school are so sweet, they call us to make sure we are not "sad, or homesick" and bought us extra pillows and blankets for our room. They even booked us train tickets to go to the beach! Unfortunately, we missed the train- but its the thought that counts! The teachers' kindness has made it really easy to feel at home and comfortable here. We have visited many outdoor markets and malls that we would not have known how to get to without their help.
Our town is a lot closer to Bangkok than I realized, and the teachers have showed us great, cheap ways to get to the city. We have explored a few malls and went to some really cool markets in downtown Bangkok (which we took the Skytrain to- so cool its just like the Monnerail at Disney!)
Our first week on our own went wayyy better than expected! Now, all we have to do is tackle teaching....

 cafe in our town with amazing smoothies and "brick toast"

 Alexis is in her element!

 We found froyo at the mall :)

 Bangkok malls are FUN

 Our humble abode

 The view

Sick indoor waterfall at the mall !