tales from thailand: Field Trip to Dreamworld !

Last week was a shortened week for us teachers at Kanchanapisek. Tuesday we had shortened periods (40 minute classes instead of 50 minutes) so the Thai teachers could have a meeting with the director. Wednesday was Teacher's day in Thailand, so it was a nice break in the middle of the week. Our school is known as an activity school so I was pleasantly surprised Thursday morning to discover my Mathayom 5 classes were cancelled for the day.

The most exciting part of the week was our scheduled field trip to Dreamworld, a theme park located outside the city of Bangkok. Alexis and I were joining the Mathayom 4 students for their trip to the National Science Museum and Dreamworld. Neither of us teach M.4 so it was exciting to spend time with new students. We also went on the trip with Wai Wai, Eye, and Som... the other young teachers in our office.

Alexis and I were eager to visit Dreamworld because we are both roller coaster lovers and had visited Luna Park in Australia together. We were eager to have another international amusement park experience and we spent the time at the science museum sipping on coffee and saving our energy. The museum was a little out dated anyway, nothing like the science museum in Boston!

We pulled into Dreamworld a little after noon and at first glance it reminded me of Canobie Lake Park. It was pretty small for a theme park, with one major roller coaster and smaller sized carnival like rides. There were 2 water rides but Alexis and I didn't want to spend the bus ride home soaking wet so we avoided those. While the students were given safety instructions in Thai, Alexis, myself, and the other teachers slipped into the park on our own and headed straight for "The Viking" - the swinging ship like the pharoah. Wai Wai and Som were nervous for the ride, but Alexis, Eye, and I were reading for the back row- arms up! I noticed right away that rides last a lot longer than rides in America, you actually have time to enjoy the ride at Dreamworld! The Viking went much higher than the ride in America and I have to admit even I was a little scared at the peak!!

The park itself was really cute. It was much cleaner than I expected. The decorations were like a hybrid of Storyland and Universal studios. There were fairy tale characters and super heros scattered across the park, and many of the games were selling Disney stuffed animals. Some of the rides were even modeled after Disney - like Space Mountain! Alexis and I had to see what the Thai version had to offer, and even though it was an indoor roller coaster, it wasn't quite as fast or dark as the one in Florida. Apparently, Thai people don't know that the front and the back seats are the best seats of the ride- because Alexis and I got the front every time !

Our entry ticket gave us 6 rides for free and I wanted to conquer as many rides as I could in 4 hours. There was a small carnival ride similar to the round up that Eye and I went on together- I love spinny rides so I was very excited!! By the end of the ride my cheeks hurt from laughing!

The last ride of the day Alexis and I splurged and paid extra for the "sky coaster"- a high speed roller coaster where your feet dangle. It didn't go upside down but it was fun none the less. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Dreamworld. The quality of the rides exceeded my expectations and the park was really clean. It was a nice day and I am happy we got to spend time with the other teachers in our office. Plus- I didn't have to teach my 6 classes on Friday!!

Friday night we layed low in the apartment. We had to wake up early for our long awaited reunion with Skye and Ethan from orientation. We were headed to the ancient capital of Thailand- Ayutthaya- to visit ancient ruins and temples. The weekend was off to a great start and I couldn't wait to see our friends!