How it all Began

The little experience I had in Rwanda teaching English

My kids coloring in Rwanda

Teaching math in Thailand

I have now had a number of people ask me about how I got my teaching job in Thailand.  It was quite easy and it happened very fast.  I applied just after my Peace Corps "close of service" conference.  I had originally applied and been accepted to work at an outdoor education camp in New York state.  After my cos conference I realized I did not want to move back to America quite yet.  A fellow peace corps volunteer loves looking and recommending jobs for people.  So she actually found this job on idealist.org and sent me the link.  At first I thought I was not qualified for this job.  They wanted 2 years of experience teaching kindergarten, a TESOL certification and a BA in education.  I had none of these but was encouraged to go ahead and apply anyway.  I sent my application on February 14, 2012.  I got a response on the 16th wanting a skype interview.  I had my interview on the 20th.  The connection was really bad, we had to turn off the video, and we could barley hear each other.  After the interview I immediately received an e-mail that I was hired and had a week to decide.  After much thought, and discussion with lots of people and making a pro/con list I accepted the job a week later.  I then spent a month in America with family and friends.  I had to get a non-immigrant B visa in DC at the Thai Embassy.  I had to get a background check and after booking my flight for May 5th arriving May 7th in Thailand I was ready to go.  I started work on May 8th teaching kindergarten, something I had never done before. 

I loved this gig so much I am moving to Mandalay, Burma on May 10th to teach English there for one year.  I will be teaching likely grade one but could be any primary school grade level.  Until then I will be traveling around Thailand and South East Asia! 

Good websites for Teaching Abroad:
eslcafe.com
eslbase.com
seriousteachers.com
ajarn.com
totalesl.com

It's time to say Goodbye

Me with my Thai teacher and her husband

My styled curly hair!

On Saturday the parents of my students threw me and my co-teachers a thank you, goodbye party.  It was a well planned party.  They had meetings to discuss it after school.  It was really exciting to have the parents appreciate all my hard work.  I decided to have my hair professionally stylied for the first time in my life.  Thai people love getting there hair done and I knew it would be greatly appreciated.  


The party was located at a fancy restaurant outside of town (I cannot pronounce or write the name), my teacher picked me up and drove me there.   A huge banner was made with photos of the teachers and the students (I wish i had a photo of it but I forgot to take one).


The first event was a slideshow of photos and video footage from throughout the year.  The students were taped saying all they had learned this year and how much they loved their teachers.  

Delicious food was served at each table throughout the 2 hour party.  We had duck, fish, and pork fried rice.  Appetizers with sausages and hot dogs.   

FOOD!

Dance performance

Saying thank you and receiving our gifts.

The students sang and danced.  We have been practicing these songs for this event for over 3 weeks.
 Then games like musical chairs and balloon
 popping games were played.  I went around and
 took pictures with every family.  It was a really
 nice party.  At the end I was given a silk scarf as a gift. 

Bags full of toys including toy guns... (bad idea)

Photos with the families

Me with our wonderful nanny

Me and my co-teacher

King's Award Evaluation Day- January 23, 2013

 One Month Ago: A Very Stressful Evaluation
Preparation: Teaching in Thailand can be very stressful, especially when Kindergarten is being evaluated.  As is turns out the kindergarten of my school was nominated for the prestigious King's Award in Isan, Thailand.  We were first evaluated in November but I not involved and hardly aware of it happening.  We made it into the final three schools. 

A month ago was the second evaluation which I have been highly involved in.  Making poster's about the English Program, preparing documents, making slide shows and taking lots of pictures.  Everything had to be beautiful and perfect and this past week hours were put into doing just that.  I myself was only stressed as all the teachers were freaking out and would yell if something didn't look perfect.  While cutting photos with a box cutter I sliced a small chunk of the tip of my finger off.  

Kids dressed up for the performance in front of the judges

Ready to Perform

I stayed late many days and spent my entire day off for Teacher's Day working to prepare for the evaluation. The school was repainted, flowers placed everywhere, blue and pink garland around all railings,  the students work displayed through the hallways, fountains turned on, kids practiced performances for weeks.  It was a crazy month and I'm glad the evaluation is all over now.   

I planned an amazing and elaborate lesson for the day to be observed.  I was really excited about the lesson too.  The students would be put into groups to make a weather collage.  They had to glue on a sun, snowflake, rainbow, clouds and lightening and then label them in  English.  The rain was then pained on using cotton balls.

Our kindergarten even has its own band which played on evaluation day

 

Evaluation Day: I am told I must look extra beautiful.  I must wear earrings, must put my hair up, and must wear lipstick and high heels.  All the teachers wear matching shirts.  At 7:30 all the kindergarten classes gather by the entrance gate and wait for the evaluators to arrive.  We had to wait over an hour because of course they were late.  












 
My kids were getting pretty bored so I started taking photos of them making funny faces.








Once the visitors arrived students wrapped them in traditional Isan fabric and they made their way to the auditorium for a speech by the director and a video presentation.  We had a very special lunch to impress the judges. 

I stood in the conference room all day ready to present our English Program Board.  There are over 30 tripod board presentations throughout the room.  Not only where there tripod boards but also piles of paperwork of lesson plans, case studies, certifications, student work.
Needless to say they never made it to the back corner to talk to me.  A whole day wasted.  
In conclusion, we did not win the award, a school in Korat won.  After this evaluation craziness I was definitely ready for the school year to be over.  Since then life has been rather smooth and uneventful.    

The children

I have only have 2 weeks left as a kindergarten teacher in Thailand.  It's been a wonderful 10 months and this blog is dedicated to my 32 amazingly adorable 4-5 year olds.  We have spent 5 days a week together for 42 weeks.  Its going to be hard to say goodbye to these naughty cuties... or will it?  They have certainly taught me a lot about teaching little kids, patience and always having a plan B and plan C!  This is Kindergarten 1/10 of AnubarnSurin School in Surin, Thailand.

Tiw, naughty but so adorable and loving.

Tiw- How could you not love him?

Aum likes to be the center of attention. He speaks loud and clear.

Aum preparing to let go of his paper helicopter.

Oak does whatever he can to try to annoy me.  He also loves hugs.

Wee at the parade for sports day.  We were the yellow team.

My Thai teacher with 2 students Lisa and Kwan-kao getting ready to participate in tug of war.

Air, playing dress up.

Pie, one of the smartest students shows off her advanced math skills.

Lili, at lunch eating cake.  She is the social butterfly of the class.

Noo-in is the shyest girl and talks at only a whisper, I have to read her lips to understand what she is saying.

Ken handing out snacks for his birthday.

Chokun dressed up for a performance.

Sun crafting.

Auto playing with the fruit stand.

Haul is the princess of the girls.

Lisa (on right) asks everyday "Teacher what are you doing?"

Luk-sorn- gets upset easily but loves to speak English

Zerb, always the first in line and the first to finish things, showing off his 5 finger puppet family.

Eek-Q- the class clown

Thai Thai dancing.

Betong- almost never listens, and is really naughty but he looks good here!

Tonkla, a trouble maker cutie & son of my landlord

QQ getting excited for the Loy Krathong festival.  He is quiet and shy but can speak and understand English.

Ung Pao- the youngest student. 

Thai Thai one of the youngest and best friends with Ung Pao.

Top ten things I love about Surin Thailand.

Why Surin is great...

Surin is a small (80,000) sized town in Isan, Thailand (north eastern, Thailand).  It's flat, has little scenery, and is definitely not a tourist destination (except during the November elephant festival), its been my home for 9 months now and I want to write a list of things I love about it, in order with the best first.  

1.) Jah Bar

This a a small rustic local Reggie bar that was introduced to me by the foreign teachers who were here the year before me.  Many teachers like to hang out here weekends.  The main draws are the friendly staff, the upstairs which overlooks the downstairs and the live music with English songs.  It's definitely a locals type place where everyone knows everyone.

 2.) The Klong Tom Market

This market is located about 2 km outside of town.  It is a huge market that only opens on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  They sell new/ used clothes, food, fish, guns, car cleaning supplies, electronics and lots of things in between.  I love going for their fresh Carmel popcorn, mini egg omelets, and 100 ($3) baht dresses. 







 

3.) The Bowl Place 
(not its official name but its fitting as the official name is unknown).
I discovered this amazing restaurant in October.  In my opinion it has the best Thai food in Surin.  It is near the Surin night market.  They give large portions in bowls (hence the name) and their pork is great quality with no fatty pieces.   


4.) Note's Shawarmas
(In Thailand they are called kebabs and he sells his out of a truck)
A shawarma is a "Middle Eastern sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or a mixture thereof."
I have loved shawarmas ever since having my first shawarma in Tanzania.  In November a shawarma truck suddenly appeared in Surin and a guy named Note started selling chicken shawarma for 40 baht ($1.10).  He is only open after dark, his truck is located is just before the Thong Tarin Hotel. 

5.) The Reservoir
It's located about 3 km outside of town, a perfect biking distance.  It's a popular place to picnic along side the water especially in the evenings for the sunset.

 

6.) Used Clothing Shops
 (Recently my favorite shop has closed down)
My roommate and I love to check out the used clothing shops in town.  The owners know us well, we usually go bimonthly.  

7.) The Night Market 

Surin's night market is open every night from about 5-10.  One side is food, the other side is clothes.  I love the chicken sticks in peanut sauce, pad thai, and yoghurt smoothies.  They also sell salads and fruits.





 

 

8.) The Majestic Hotel and Thong Tarin Hotel  Pools
On sunny weekends I like to go lay by the hotel pools.  There are hardly ever any customers staying in these hotels so the staff does not mind if we come and lounge by the pool.  These are the only two outdoor pools in town.  I love to swim, get a tan, and lye in on a chair and read.  It's a great way to spend an otherwise boring Saturday or Sunday in Surin.  



 

9.) The Elephant Coffee Shop
This coffee shop has great coffee, smoothies and overpriced but delicious snacks.  My favorite combination is the yoghurt blueberry smoothie and brownie cheesecake.  They have the best vanilla latte's in all of Surin.  I like to sit upstairs and read in their amazing lounge chair overlooking the road.     

 















10.) The Rice Fields
Surin and all of eastern Thailand are known most for their rice fields.