Magical Moments

Today in all my classes I gave a Term Pre-Test.  The students take this test (the exact same test) once at the beginning of the term and once at the end to see how much they've learned.  It being my first test at this new school I have to say today had some fun/sneaky surprises for me!

My P1s were my first class.  I gave them some rules about not talking and not looking at their partner's paper, explained how to shade in the little squares, had my TA translate everything to make sure they understood and then we were off!  Little did I realize as I was handing out the tests that these tests pretty much mark the first test these students have ever taken.  I mean, like, ever.  Which, if I had actually stopped to think about it before I went into the classroom makes sense.  They wouldn't have taken tests in Kindergarten* and its the beginning of the school year.  I mean, we haven't even had a full week of school yet so its a bit early for tests.  Of course, as it happens, I didn't stop to think about it before I went to class this morning so my first period was both baffling and frustrating.  In retrospect I think its kind of cool that I got to give them their first ever test, but at the time the frustration of kids saying "said lao, said lao" (finished, finished) when they'd only completed the first page of a six page test was overpowering any magic the moment might have held.

So with my P1s I struggled a bit.  I mean, it being their first test and everything I pretty much completely lost the battles of no talking and no cheating because my TA and I were running around the classroom trying to teach kids how to take their first test, but it just means there's lots of room to grow, right?!

My P2s were much better.  They were quiet and they didn't really need additional instructions.  A few students, specifically some of the smarter ones, got a big hung up when they didn't understand the question being asked.  For example, a few questions ask you to identify the adjective and since we haven't learned what an adjective is yet they obviously had no idea what the question was even asking.  Eventually I asked my TA to translate the word adjective for them but I even had to help her to define it (I mean, she knows what adjectives are - once I gave her examples she understood, but she didn't know what the word "adjective" meant).  Overall though that was a good class.

My P3s were the little angels they always are.*  The magical moment with them happened after they finished.   The P3 test seemed to be pretty easy for some of the students and many finished with a good 15 minutes left in class.  Now, any teacher knows that 15 minutes of quiet time can be difficult for students when there isn't anything to do so for all of 10 seconds I was really worried.  Then they start pulling out their books and workbooks and just reading them.  I'm serious.  I didn't suggest it, I didn't have to tell them to find something quiet to do, all on their own they pulled out their books and entertained themselves.  Some of the girls pulled out their workbooks and some colored pencils and started coloring in the pictures while most of the boys seemed to be looking through the book - some of them even stopping to practice reading certain pages.  I was amazed.  I mean, would I have done that as a child?  Yes, probably.  But that never happened in Chaiyaphum (not that I expected it to) and frankly I was a quiet goody-two-shoes child anyway so I'm not sure I'm the standard.  But these kids, man oh man, I don't know how I got so lucky.

Anyway, I hope ever testing day goes like today's did - I might stop hating giving out tests so much!

*People don't actually give tests to Kindergartners right?  I mean, I know they don't here, but in other places?  I certainly hope not anyway...

*I feel like I'm going to jinx my P3s behavior and intelligence magic if I keep saying things like this.  I mean, they can't actually always be good, right?  At some point they'll realize they don't have to be perfect all the time and all hell will probably break loose... Yup, I'm definitely jinxing it.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

So it's my Dad's birthday today and coincidentally it is also a holiday here in Thailand!  I had today off of school and came down to Bangkok yesterday to hang out with G and Matthew and other friends.  So far I've had a wonderful weekend - just hanging out, eating good food, and being with good people.

Every time I find myself in Bangkok I find myself baking - so we made Ba's cake!  Its a family birthday cake and I'm happy to say that I have mastered Thai conditions to the point where Ba's cake came out beautifully!

A "K" for his name and a number for his age!

So Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!!  I love you so much - I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!!!!!!!!  

That says "Happy Birthday" in case you were wondering...

Songthew

I mentioned in the post talking about moving to Pakchong that one of the downsides of my current apartment is that its a little removed from town.  So I've been taking a songthew to get around - to get to and from work, Tesco, the night market, etc. - and I have to say, I kinda like it!

A songthew (not to be confused with a song tail which is a type of boat) is a truck with benches in the back. Pakchong is basically made up of one big road with small roads branching off of it (but they don't go very deep) and the songthews drive up and down the main road.

My apartment is about a 5 minute (leisurely) walk from the main road and the nice thing about songthews is that you wave them down like taxis - no walking to a specific spot required!  And its the same thing with getting off - you just press a buzzer when you want to get off and the driver will stop.  Its also a flat rate price, 10 baht per ride, so its really cheap.  There are quite a few children who take them to school but so far its only been a problem in the afternoon.  And even then it isn't really a problem.  There are two different colors - a pink and blue songthew and a green and yellow songthew - and for whatever reason only the pink and blue is filled with kids in the afternoons.  I can always find a place on the green and yellow and though there are still some students, the crowd is definitely more mixed.  The best part though is that taking a songthew here makes me feel like a local.  I'm part of a community of songthew riders and its nice that even though I'm new in town I already feel like I have a connection to Pakchong and the people here.  

Everything's coming up Caroline!

Well the first few days of school have gone just swimmingly.  Thursday I didn't end up having class so Friday was the first real day of classes.  I made a little power point about myself which ended up being very revealing for how much English my students already understand.  I started the day with my P3s and I was so impressed with how much they already knew!  They were also really well behaved - I think that class is going to be really fun for me.  The P1s were about where I expected them to be - they knew very little English.  That being said, I think they will be my fastest learners.  That class is very receptive, eager to learn, eager to please, and relatively well behaved.  My P2s knew less than I expected and were the worst behaved class.  I'll need to remember to be patient with them - I think it will be difficult because I'll have to play a bit of catch-up with them to get them to where they need to be to understand the book.  But I'm thrilled that its only one class I have to do that with!

One of the best things so far in classes and about this new school is my TA, Bee.  She has been such a huge help!  The school didn't have a roster in English so Bee and Ray translated our rosters and then made a list of the students' nicknames.  Bee is currently putting labels with the students' nicknames and numbers on their books which will be a huge help to me.  She also has been there helping me with every class - especially in terms of behavior management and in making sure the students understand the directions I'm giving them.  She and Ray are both very hard working and so friendly - I know they are going to make my experience at this school a really positive one.

School today has gone really well.  My P3s especially were amazing.  I did pretty much the same thing in all my classes today.  Because we didn't have a list of their nicknames I had to postpone my name tag making activity until today.  I wanted a list of their nicknames before I had them make name tags because I thought some of the P1s and P2s might need help (and they did) spelling and writing their names.  Before we did that I went through what I'm hoping will become a class routine.  Today it took a lot longer than usual because I was asking them things like "What is today's date?" and "What is today's weather?" and we needed to go through the vocabulary for each of those questions.  Months are apparently something that the books don't cover until P2 Unit 4 but that kind of timeline doesn't work for me so everyone is going to learn the months of the year now.  So while my P1s and P2s needed to learn all this new vocabulary, my P3s raced through the new class routine because they grasped it right away.  So while my P1s were left with about 15 minutes to make their name tags, my P3s had 35 minutes.  With my P1s or P2s I might have worried about the class getting a little rowdy with that much time for an activity like that but my P3s got really into decorating their name tags and making them really beautiful.  Plus they were quiet the entire time.  I mean, really, really quiet.  It was like, kids, you actually are allowed to talk to each other while coloring - you're 8, its OK.  But actually it was really wonderful - they were really wonderful.

So yeah, things are going really well here.  :)      

First Day of School

Sorry I'm a bit back-logged.  I actually wrote this post last Thursday which was the actual first day of school.  We're now on Day 3!  I'm hoping to get another post posted today or tomorrow about how things are going - spoiler alert, they're going really well :)

Anyway, here's last Thursday's post:

First day of school!  Today I had only one of my classes since the students had a school orientation in the morning.  As it turns out, there was a bit of scheduling confusion so I’ll be teaching P1, P2, and P3 instead of P2, P4, and P6.  I have pretty mixed feelings about this right now.  I love the little ones – they are just too cute to not like.  And I’m excited about the idea of teaching more vocabulary based lessons instead of grammar focused lessons.  That being said, I’m disappointed that I don’t get to teach any of the older kids.  Even though I don’t love the books for the older (P5, P6) students, I really enjoyed teaching the P5s in Chaiyaphum.  I enjoy coming up with games and activities that will be both fun and challenging for that age group.  It’s just possible to do more with them.

Of course, as I sat in the office today waiting for my class I was flipping through the books doing a bit of big picture planning and I was getting really excited about teaching numbers, and colors, and body parts (who doesn’t love learning the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”), and other fun vocabulary like that.  And even though some of the activities I’ve planned are repetitive for me (we’re going to be doing a lot of coloring), I know that they will have fun.  It’s nice that this age group is so easy to please and will be appreciative of simple activities. 

My schedule is a little wacky – I don’t have my classes at the same time every day like I did in Chaiyaphum.  I guess the variety is nice although it will probably make pre-planning Skype dates more confusing (sorry folks). 

Otherwise I guess I don’t have much to say.  I’ll post some pictures of the classroom and office, both of which are really nice.  And I will post again soon!  By the way, if you have any specific topics or questions that you’d like a blog post on I would happily take suggestions.  Just leave a comment below! 

Classroom

Office

Back of office - plus our own toilet!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Since my mom is such a faithful reader (and often the motivation for me to write a new post) I thought I'd dedicate a post to her.

So here's to you Mommy - Thanks for always being supportive - even when I decide to move to the other side of the world - and for your unconditional love.  I love you always.

me and my mom in Turkey (March '13)

me and my parents in Turkey (March '13)

 And because Mother's Day isn't just about my mom and because I know this blog means a lot to my grandmothers as well... I feel so fortunate to have both of you in my life.  I love you Omo and Gram and Happy Mother's Day to each of you!

Omo

Gram

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

My new room

My new room in Pak Chong is not ideal but its a place to live and settle in before school starts and for that I am very grateful.  

I found this room with the help of the teacher working with me in Pak Chong, Peter, and his wife Nee.  Nee is Thai and her family lives in the area and Peter is from England but has been living in Thailand for 8 years.  So two weeks ago I came to try and find a place to live without all my stuff in tow and Peter and Nee were nice enough to scout out some rooms ahead of time and then pick me up from the bus and drive me around looking at said places.  

The first place we looked at is about half way between the Tesco Lotus complex and the center of town (where the school is).  It's around the corner from Peter and Nee's house and is in a small neighborhood that backs up against a hill.  So the view from all sides is pretty great.  

Pros include: 

the view

the price (4000 B per month)

the size

furniture and mattress included

nice owners

proximity to Peter and Nee

Cons include:

general location - its out of the way and there aren't any samlaws or tuk tuks here, only motorbike taxis* and songtails (which are like trucks with benches in the back part and have stops but aren't for private transport) so its difficult to get around

outlet placement in the room - i know this sounds like a weird complaint but there are two outlets in the room and they are possibly in the most inconvenient locations possible

bedding (including sheets, pillows, towels) not included - turns out I was really spoiled in Chaiyaphum

no refrigerator - again, I was spoiled in Chaiyaphum

The second place we looked at was really nice.  I didn't get to see inside a room because they were fully booked but the location was awesome - right in town - and included a fitness center across the driveway.  The people there were not as friendly but they didn't need my business so I'm not sure that's indicative of how it would be if I lived there.  The lobby area was really really nice - great furniture and very open.  And the price was 4500 B per month. 

The last place we looked also had a pretty good location.  It was a little off the main road but was within easy walking distance to school.  This place included furniture (but not bedding or anything like that) and the room was a good size.  The price was also good - 3800 B per month.  So sounds like this is where I should be living right?  Wrong.  There were two major problems with this place.  One was that it felt dirty.  Not in a 'the floors need a good mopping and the sheets need washing' way but in a 'if I touch the walls I might get a disease or something because they are oozing grossness' way.  The second problem, and this probably contributed to the first problem, was that it felt like a jail cell/cave.  There was one tiny window and it had bars and it let in almost no light.  Writing this it sounds like really petty reasons not to take the room given its pros but trust me when I say pretty much nothing would have convinced me to live in that room.

So despite the location problems I am currently living in Room numero uno.  And actually, living here the past week I've grown to like it more and more.  I love being able to take walks around the neighborhood I'm in and taking the songtail into town or to Tesco is pretty easy.  Plus I've rearranged the furniture so the layout of the room is much better and the outlet situation is less annoying (actually I kind of prefer it to other outlet situations because I've customized it for me).  Food is a little bit of a problem because there isn't a lot to eat in the area and without a refrigerator its difficult to cook for myself.  And I haven't actually had to struggle with going to and from school every day which I think will be a challenge because school children will be taking up space on the songtails and it will be a little weird for me to be riding with them (every other teacher will either have a motorbike/car or take a motorbike taxi).  But I'll figure it out and I think it will probably work out just fine.

*Motorbike taxis don't work for me because I struggle to ride them (both phsycially struggle to keep my balance and mentally because all I can think is 'Donercycle! Donercycle!').  Also, even if I did want to ride one, I can't ride sidesaddle on a motorbike and I have to wear a skirt or a dress and I can't stradle the bike in a skirt or a dress here.  So motorbikes are out.

Pictures you ask?  Ah yes, here we are...

Before I rearranged the furniture...

 

The balcony

 

The bathroom

The view from my front window

Out to the side

You must walk through the balcony to get to the bathroom

The view from the balcony 

The mountains from the balcony view

Sometimes it rains... a lot

but it's still pretty beautiful

My room after I've rearranged it!

View of the front door from the bed. So you can see I've solved the outlet situation by combining extension cords with Christmas lights and wound them around the room. 

 

A Fresh Start

Well folks, I've moved.  I suppose I should change the under title of this blog as I am no longer living in Chaiyaphum and have moved to a different city in Thailand - Pakchong!  There are many things to say about this move - why I've moved, facts about Pakchong, where I'm living in Pakchong - and of course there are many things to say about the many months that I have not blogged.  But let's start with Pakchong.

When I was offered my position with BFITS one of the selling points was that if I renewed my contract in March I would have the option of moving to a different city.  I think they were worried because I told them in my interview that I liked living in a city and well, Chaiyaphum doesn't really fit any sort of metropolitan qualifications.  As it turned out I really loved living in Chaiyaphum.  I liked being recognized around town - it made me feel really safe there - and I loved the school I was working at and my students there.  So why did I decide to move?  Really, there are two reasons and both of them revolve around Bangkok.  All of my friends here in Thailand live in Bangkok and even though G was with me during the week in Chaiyaphum that wouldn't be true (*fingers crossed* for her sake) this term.  So socially living in Chaiyaphum had some serious drawbacks.  Pakchong is bigger and while I'm still unsure of its farang population or weekend social options, I live in hope of the possibilities.  And either way spending a weekend in Bangkok can start Friday at 7 instead of Friday at 10 and that's just more fun all the way around!

The second reason I wanted to be closer to Bangkok was for travel reasons.  I've been pretty successful at travelling since I've been here, but 3/4 of my "big" trips (more than a weekend) have involved me leaving out of Bangkok.  Adding 12 hours on a bus was kind of putting a damper on my travels.  Especially for New Years when I went to Taiwan but only had 5 days off.  Living in Chaiyaphum meant that of those 5 days, 2 full days were spent in transit.  Cutting my commute to Bangkok in half will, I imagine, make such travels much easier.  Not to mention Pakchong's proximity to bigger cities and better accessibility to bus routes around Isan.    

So Pakchong is closer to Bangkok than Chaiyaphum and is in somewhere called Isan, but what else?  Pakchong is in the northeast region of Thailand, called Isan, and is a 3 hour bus ride from Bangkok.  And its only a 2 hour car ride!  It is much larger than Chaiyaphum; Chaiyaphum has about 40,000 people (although it felt smaller than that) whereas Pakchong is about 180,000 people.  Here there is a center of town which includes a night market (primarily food items) and a general market (for shopping type things).  There's a bus station (obviously) but there's also a train station!  Not that I actually plan on taking the train here... Thailand has to be the only country I have ever been in where the buses are nicer, faster, and more convenient than the train.  I haven't had much of a chance to really explore Pakchong yet so I'll update what there is here as time goes on.

So that's the beginning of my fresh start in a new place.  Of course I'm also hoping my blog post title will refer to a fresh start with this blog.  So in a renewed effort to post more often I'm going to save pictures and a description of my new room for tomorrow's post.  Don't worry - it'll be worth the wait. :)