Life in Tak

Friday 11/12/15 3:00 PM

The view from our porch

The last week or so in Tak has been great, and I am really starting to feel settled in. Last weekend we stayed at home and had some friends come visit on Saturday night. We all went out for dinner and drinks Saturday night and it was a blast. This weekend we are going to a small waterfall near Tak, but will mostly be hanging out around here. Next weekend we are heading back to Chiang Mai for a Loi Kratang festival. Loi Kratang is one of the major Buddhist holidays here. Each city has its own way of celebrating, but they all center around the release of lanterns. In Chiang Mai they will release hundreds of floating lanterns into the sky. Here in Tak many lantern floats will be released into the river later that week. Since we have been taking it easy lately I have decided to dedicate this post to information about what the daily life is like here in Tak.

A typical day here starts with me waking up just before 7:00 am, getting ready, and making the 5 minute bike ride to the school. In the morning Molly and I typically have breakfast at the school “canteen” where meals can be purchased for 20 baht (roughly 60 cents). The food there is delicious; there are 14 stalls that all sell different Thai dishes. You can get chicken with chilies, rice with a huge variety of stir-fries and curries, fried eggs, noodle soups…I could go on forever. And it’s all made fresh everyday by people in the community.

The stands on the left all serve cheap food!

Teachers sit on the stage with the fans

After breakfast I usually have about a half hour of downtime before first period. The students all have a morning assembly during this time, complete with a marching band performance (yes, every day) and speeches from teachers and staff. I use this time to finish checking worksheets from the day before or to check in on my fantasy football teams, which might I add are in first and second place. I teach 18 classes a week: four on every day except on Friday when I only have two. I teach the equivalent of 7^th 9^th and 10^th graders with most of my classes coming from 7^th and 9^th grade. Right now I am working on decimals, inequalities, and functions with my classes. Molly teaches 16 classes a week. She teaches two gifted classes in grades 7 and 11 called MEPs (Mini English Program) and are kids who have really high levels of English proficiency. These are fun to teach because she can do more advanced projects and activities with them. She also has two other 7^th grade classes, and 12^th graders at various levels.

I have found that in teaching here, each class is really different. Since the students are organized into classes by grade, skill level and even further by special programs their parents can’t opt to pay for, they really vary in their abilities. Some of the groups of students are quiet and eager to learn while some are loud in class and more difficult to get through to. Some can read articles in English and discuss them with you, others you have to teach basic vocabulary. Most days I will have two classes in the morning before meeting Molly at her office to grab lunch during 4^th or 5^th period. Her office is across campus from mine as she is in the English building. After lunch I will teach the remainder of my classes. Math classes start with me reviewing the past week’s material and presenting the day’s lesson. Then I have a worksheet I help my students complete; if they complete the worksheets quickly we play a math game at the end of class. It is really fun to play games with kids; they tend to relish the competition! During my free periods I am either lesson planning, or checking worksheets. The days tend to be pretty busy.

Molly on the way home from school

Molly and I usually get home around 4:30 or a little earlier on some days. There is about an hour of downtime before we head across town to a local sports complex. The complex has a small weight room, a basketball court, a mile-long loop to run around, and various other amenities. I try to make it over there 5 times a week if possible. If we are travelling on the weekend that number drops to 3-4. After the gym we grab dinner at a local spot. We have been trying many different places but our favorite thus far is a small stand that serves amazing pad Thai for only 20 baht. It is right next to the local river, and about a 5 minute bike ride from our place. When we get back we usually read, make travel plans, or watch Netflix until it is time to go to sleep. Molly is also working on submitting her law school applications right now so she can be busy with that. The weekdays can be tiring but we do usually find time for activities like a Thai massage, exploring town on our bikes or hanging out with the other foreigners sometime during the week.  And that is a typical day of life in Tak.

The "Welcom To Tak" sign on the way to the gym

Two of the strays that live by our apartment (front: Swaggy P. back: Tom Haverford)

Tak can be somewhat simple but it’s a really nice, peaceful place. I am really enjoying it and am grateful for our placement. Being away from any tourism has allowed us to really immerse ourselves in Thai culture. I feel like I am really learning what life here is all about: the go with the flow attitude, a focus on people and relationships, kindness and friendliness…it’s a really great place to live. I have had a lot of fun playing basketball with the locals and getting to know the town. I feel like I am starting to figure out good ways to teach here too. I have lots of help from my Thai co-teachers, they are all such great resources for school and life in Thailand in general. Living with Molly and getting to spend so much time together is incredible. All in all life in Thailand has been everything I wanted so far!

Phu Chi Fah and Chiang Rai

Tuesday 11/3/15 3:00 PM

We have only been in Thailand for three weeks but it feels like it has been much longer because of everything that we’ve done. So far we have been to five major cities and a remote mountain on the northwestern border. Last week the work week was cut short because of a college entrance exam that was taking place at our school. On Tuesday we learned that class would be cancelled on Thursday and Friday, and that we would need to come into work on Sunday for an “English camp” for one group of students. Molly and I decided that the three days off were a perfect opportunity to visit a spot that we had heard was one of the more beautiful sights in Thailand: Phu Chi Fa.

The sunrise view at Phu Chi Fa

Phu Chi Fa is a mountain on the border on Laos. We were told that it was amazing to view a sunrise from the summit, as the neighboring peaks would form islands in a sea of fog below. The closest major city to Phu Chi Fa is Chiang Rai. Another major pro to making the journey out there was that many of our friends from orientation were stationed near Chiang Rai and others had planned to visit the city over the weekend. Melanie, another American teaching at our school, arrived in Tak last week and decided to come with us on our trip across the country. This was my first experience travelling in a truly Thai style: we booked nothing before arriving at the bus station to depart. We arrived at the bus station Wednesday afternoon after school and asked when the next bus leaving for Chiang Rai would depart. After being told that the bus would arrive at 7:30 we grabbed a bite and waited for it to arrive. We then spent around 5 hours travelling to Chiang Rai. We arrived in the middle of the night, unsure of how to get to the hostel we intended on staying at or where exactly it was. Luckily we found a tuk-tuk driver who took us to a street with many options for places to stay. Our first choice had no vacancies, but we quickly found another hostel and slept soundly.

The next day we awoke and headed to the local bus terminal where we took a bus to the small town of Thoeng. This is the closest bus stop to Phu Chi Fa. From there we took a Songtow, which is basically a pick-up truck that uses the bed as a miniature bus, up into the mountains. We met a group of Thai students from Chiang Rai University who split the ride up with us. They were very helpful in organizing the trips up and down the mountain, and having a larger group made the ride much cheaper. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, but I enjoyed the stunning views as we meandered our way up the mountain. We arrived at a plateau where there were several small guest houses where we could stay. We spent the afternoon and evening wandering the mountainside. The little village had stunning views of the surrounding countryside. There was a quick storm in the middle of the afternoon so I got the chance to stand out in the cool rain and enjoy the scenery. 

 Left: Me enjoying the rainstorm     Right: The view from the village near Phu Chi Fa

My view with a brew at dinner near Phu Chi Fa

The next morning, we got up at 5:00 am to see the sunrise atop the mountain. It was as beautiful a sight as I have seen in my life, and was definitely worth all the buses and travel time it took to get there. The view really does speak for itself.

 The Sunrise View

 Molly, Melanie, and I after the clouds rolled in

Molly and I with the Phu Chi Fa sign

Later Friday morning we travelled back to Chiang Rai where we checked into a hostel and then got Thai style foot massages. They were amazing and left us feeling refreshed even after the extensive travel we had gone through. That night we met up with many friends from orientation and had a blast going out to local bars near the city center. We even found a place that served American style beef burgers. They were delicious and worth every bit of the 120 (four dollars) baht they cost. Because the average meal in Tak costs us 20-30 baht and is some of the most delicious stuff I’ve ever eaten, this now seems like an extravagant amount of money to spend.

 Left: The clock tower in Chiang Rai             Right: The burger stand we all enjoyed 

Saturday morning, we met up with another Molly and Hilary who are stationed in a rural town outside Lampang. We all went to a modern Buddhist temple called the White Temple that was about 20 minutes away from downtown Chiang Rai. Its construction began in 1997 and the entire compound won’t be finished until about 2070. It was an unbelievably ornate structure. The message of the temple was that one must experience suffering before achieving nirvana and that hedonistic lifestyles are what lead to evils in this world. In the mural inside the main structure the artist uses images of the world trade center attacks as well as popular figures from western pop culture (Darth Vader, minions, the hulk, Neo, Michael Jackson etc.) to drive this point home. Seeing such a tragedy for our nation displayed in a religious temple was more than unsettling, and I don’t really know how to feel about it. I do know that it is not meant to be offensive although it has offended some western visitors. With that being said, I am so glad I visited the temple as it is a building straight out of a Halloween movie, and it was October 31^st after all.

 Molly, Melanie and I at the White Temple

After visiting the temple, the three of us headed back to Tak since we had work on Sunday. The bus ride took much longer on the way back, but we made it home with plenty of time to rest up for the coming work week. Despite travelling across the country to a remote mountain, staying three nights in hostels, spending money to go out and paying for small trips around the city, the entire weekend still came in at under 3,000 baht or under $100. It is truly amazing how far money can go here. Everything seemed to work out last weekend: we found a good place to stay every night, we didn’t know how to get up the mountain but we found a Thai person who majored in English who was going to the same place as us, the view in Phu Chi Fa was even more stunning than I expected, and the list goes on and on. It was an incredible weekend in a beautiful place with awesome people!

On Sunday, we helped run an all day English camp that featured fun English games to help the students develop more confidence in their English skills and to teach them a bit about western Halloween. It was fun to be with kids and watch them bob for apples and play “pin the hat on the witch”, but it was a tiring day. Today I finally am feeling like I am finding a bit of a routine and a rhythm here in Tak. We have travelled so much that it has been hard to really settle in, not that I am complaining; I have greatly enjoyed all the trips thus far. Teaching here is disorganized but it is a great feeling when you feel like you have helped a group of students improve, even if it is just a little bit. I am looking forward to becoming a better teacher and truly developing a routine here. Next weekend we are staying in Tak and may even have a few visitors. There is a waterfall about 30 minutes away we are planning on visiting. Life is good and me and Molly are feeling really happy!

Settling In and Sukhothai

Sunday 10/25/15 6:00 PM

After the last few days I finally feel settled in to my new home here in Tak. Our apartment is small, but it is enough to be the home base for all of our travels here in Thailand. Let me tell you about the last few days. On Thursday we were picked up at 9 am to go to our school for the first time. Our school, Takpittayakhom, is the largest in the region and has about 2,700 students. In the morning we were greeted by Clay, another teacher who came through the CIEE program. He has been at the school for a semester already; we were not aware that there was someone already here. It was a happy surprise as he knows the lay of the land and had lots of tips for us. The day was filled with meeting teachers in the language and math departments, discussing our contracts, and learning more about which levels we will actually be teaching at the school. I will be teaching what is equivalent to 7^th 9^th and 10^th grades to students with varying degrees of proficiency. Here students are grouped by aptitude. Those who are the best students are in group one, with each level after that decreasing in ability. So students in group 1 can be expected to be near fluent in English while students in group 6 would know much less.

The front gate to our school compound

 After the school day, one of the teachers in the foreign languages department, Phi Neng, offered to show us where her house was so we could come visit or ask her questions if we needed anything. On the way to her house we stopped at a retired teacher’s house. They brought us fruit and water and we had a good time getting to know them. Phi Meaw and Phi Ped were the retirees’ names. We were told to think of them as our Thai mom and dad, and that we could visit them any time. Everyone here is extremely kind and friendly, it’s an amazing culture. After talking with Phi Neng at Phi Ped and Phi Meaw’s house, Phi Neng decided that she would spend the rest of her evening helping us track down a few things we needed for our apartment. (note Phi, pronounced PEE, is a term of respect for a teacher and that’s why it is in everyone’s name) She dropped everything else that she could have been doing just to help us out. She even showed us some great places to go for meals around town, and took us out to dinner at a pad Thai place by the river. It was easily the best pad Thai I have ever had. She was so kind to us; I can’t get over just how friendly and welcoming everyone here has been to us.

We spent Friday biking around town and getting some stuff done to get our apartment set up. Oh I forgot to mention that the school coordinator arranged bicycles for us. Another act of Thai kindness. The bikes make basically the whole town accessible for us. We decided to go see some ruins at Sukhothai, a city about an hour away from ours, on Saturday. Travelling in Thailand is an easy and spontaneous endeavor. We rode our bikes to the town bus station and told someone out front that we wanted to go to Sukhothai. They directed us to an old bus that would be headed there in 45 minutes, and told us the fee would be 45 bhat, about $1.50. We got to Sukhothai with no problems, and told someone at the bus station there the name of our hostel. That person then directed us to a Taxi that took us there. It was that easy to get where we needed to go.

The inside of the bus we took to Sukhothai

Once at Sukhothai we headed out to see the ruins! Sukhothai was once a capital of Thailand with its high point somewhere in the 13^th or 14^th century. These ruins are the most visited ancient sites in Thailand. Many of the Buddha images remain and people still go there to meditate, burn incense and have important festivals. The majority of the ruins are in the Historical park in the center of the old city. We spent about two and a half hours exploring the central zone of the park before the heat got to us and we decided to venture into a nearby 7/11 for relief from the weather. 

 Ruins of the Ancient Temple Mathat

Pad Thai, papaya salad and a pork omelet over rice enjoyed ruin-side

On the way we saw another ancient temple across the street. There are many ancient ruins scattered throughout Sukhothai. This temple was built in the middle of a reservoir and had many sign with Buddhist proverbs written on them. One of the most exciting parts of the day came at this temples fish feeding zone. There were so many fish there; it was very fun to feed them.

Me feeding the fish

Later that day we went to a walking street in the newer part of Sukhothai. We got a bunch of small dishes from different stands to have for dinner, it was delicious. This morning we travelled back to Tak the same way we got to Sukhothai. The ease of travel around bodes well for lots of future adventures in the Northwest and beyond. Tonight we will be hanging out with Clay and tomorrow will be our first day with classes in session. I am so excited to see what lies ahead!  

Orientation Part 2

Thursday 10/22/15 7:00 am

Last night we finally arrived in Tak where we will be teaching for the next five months. Our apartment is small but it should be more than enough space for just the two of us. Today we will go to our school for the first time and meet our coordinator, Phi Dong, who will have a lot more information for us. But before that happens I wanted to update you all on the rest of orientation. We learned a lot about Thai culture and how to operate in society here. The country is 95% Buddhist in terms of religion. That leads to a collectivist, accepting society based on respect and living in the now. It is starkly different from a western society. For example, plans and especially details of plans are not usually detailed. This is because of the emphasis on the present: why worry about tomorrow when it is today? People here don’t typically reserve hotels or buy plane or bus tickets in advance. The attitude for most things can be described with the Thai phrase “mai bpen rai” which translates into “no worries” (similar to hakkuna matata from Lion King). It is also extremely frowned upon to show negative emotion of any kind in public. Coming from a western society it is going to be an adjustment to the lack of plans, super laid back culture here, but I am excited to be immersed in a society that is so different from my own. We also got a crash course in teaching English at orientation, some of the tips I can definitely apply to math. I feel prepared to start teaching!

On Saturday night we visited Chiang Mai’s night market and had a group dinner at a restaurant there. The night market was fun but seemed pretty geared towards westerners. I bought a pair of pants there that ripped the next day.

Left: The Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai          Right: dinner at Babylonian Iraqi Restaurant 

On Sunday we had a traditional Northern Thai meal at the cultural center in Chiang Mai. The food was amazing and featured everything from fried pumpkin to a traditional pork curry. After dinner we got to watch traditional Thai dancing and even tried our hand at a dance as group! It was cool to be exposed to some of the older customs we wouldn’t see today. After dinner we all went out to the “Sunday walking street”, which is basically a long street that gets closed down on Sunday and becomes a giant market. The market was packed with people and seemed to go on for miles and miles. Some of the vendors even practiced their craft behind their stands. One of them was blowing glass right there on the side of the street. It was so fun just to walk around and see everything. I also got a new pair of pants to replace the ones that ripped. They seem to be way better quality.

 Above: Traditional northern dinner     Below: Thai traditional dancing

Monday was a long day of classes so Molly and I decided to go get Thai massages after we were done with orientation activities for the day. Here you can get an hour massage for 200 bhat, just under $3. The Thai massages take deep tissue to another level. The pressure is a bit overwhelming at times but it felt great afterwards. The masseuses use their hands, elbows, knees, forearms, and feet to apply pressure in different ways. Stretching is also a big part of the experience. It is less about relaxation and more about doing everything they can to tend to your muscles.

Tuesday was definitely the most exciting day of orientation. We got to go to an Elephant Conservation Center, and it was awesome! We first got to greet and feed about 10 elephants. You can really see the emotions on their faces when you’re up close to them. Then we watched the group take a bath in the river. The babies really loved to splash around, they were so playful and energetic. After we watched them take a bath, we went and saw how they make Elephant Dung paper. They boil the dung to disinfect it, mix it with more water, spread it out on some fine netting and allow it to dry. The profits from selling the paper are used to support the center and keep the elephants in tip top shape. The last activity was to interact with a very young elephant, about 9 months old, and its mother. The little guy was too cute. He wasn’t strong enough to chew through the bamboo shoots they had for us to feed to the elephants, but watching him try was precious. I have another post here with all of the pictures of the elephants.

Tuesday night was our last as a group in Chiang Mai. We went out as a big group for dinner and planned on going a little farther to some bars. But as we were about to depart from our stop for street food, the heavens opened up and giant rain drops started falling. We took shelter in the adjacent mall and discovered that they had a bar on the roof which was covered. So that’s where we spent the bulk of our night drinking and listening to Thai bands perform songs from the American top 40. It was a blast and a great send off for all of us. I met so many awesome people and look forward to keeping in touch and jetting around the country to see everyone.

Taylor, Willie and I enjoying the "small" version of this drink

Yesterday we finally departed, but we still don’t know much about what the school will be like. Lots of questions will be answered today. I can’t wait to find out what life will be like here, and it should be fun keeping you all updated!

P.S. for a cliff notes version of my activities with links to websites about everything check out my "places visited" page

Elephant Conservation Center Pics

This post will be just pictures of the elephant sanctuary. For a complete run down of the second part of orientation click here. Here are the elephant pictures:

Orientation (Part 1)

 10/17/15 Saturday 7:00AM

The last few days have been an absolute whirlwind! Getting adjusted to the Thai time zone has been a little more difficult than I thought it would be. That first day in Bangkok I ate breakfast after finishing my blog post and then went out to explore the area around the hostel. The hostel was just two blocks away from Victory monument, a very bustling part of the city. There were lots of markets and street food to check out in the immediate vicinity. After browsing for a little while we decided to go get our Japanese Encephalitis vaccines. These vaccines were so expensive at home, so Molly and I decided to book an appointment at a clinic that was just a short walk from our hostel. I was quite impressed with the medical facilities. We were greeted by a nurse who took our information, then we saw a doctor who made sure we were getting the right vaccine, paid our $20 fee and got the vaccine. It was a quick process and the clinic was clean. It felt just like being in a hospital in the states but the prices were much cheaper.

The alley adjacent to the clinic was flush with small food stands and lots of people eating lunch. I decided that I wanted to try some of the food. The only problem was that none of the vendors spoke English, nor was there any English on the menus. This was common all throughout the area. Since everything is written in Thai characters we are basically illiterate here. It makes every day acts that we take for granted (navigating the city, ordering food) much more difficult, but it’s challenging in a good way. So I spent about a half hour pacing up and down that alley trying to figure out what the food was and how exactly I was going to order any. Eventually Molly ended up getting someone’s attention and just pointing at a ground beef dish that looked good. The meal was delicious but I added way too much of the chili peppers on the table. It was the hottest meal I have had in a long time, and by the end of it I was drenched in sweat. After that we walked around a bit more and then took a nap; we just couldn’t stay awake anymore despite our best efforts. When we woke up we were still tired, but mustered up enough energy to find a restaurant just down the street from our hostel and get dinner. My two meals on the day cost about $3 total. Food here is incredibly cheap, and it is actually more expensive to buy groceries and cook yourself than it is to just eat out.

The next day we woke up way too early in the morning, something like 4:30 or 5:00 am. We spent the morning just lounging and got breakfast in our hostel. I went back to the market with Molly and she bought a sundress for 100 bhat, just over $3. Then we got packed up and headed to the airport to make our way to Chiang Mai. The flight was quick and even though it was only an hour long, they still fed us a full meal. Man I love Asian airlines! When we got to Chiang Mai we met up with someone from our program and made our way to the hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel we registered for our orientation, and spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and lounging. It was apparent that Chiang Mai was much more serene than the bustling, sometimes crazy, Bangkok. It has much more natural beauty and a more comfortable tempo than the nation's Capital.

The view from our hotel room

Finally, we came to day 1 of our orientation. The day started with a group trip to the Bhubing Palace and the Doi Suthep temple. The vans we took were grouped so that we would meet people who will be teaching near us. We met two other girls who will be teaching in the same town as us and a couple people who will be teaching in the same or adjacent regions. Everyone here seems so fun and comes from lots of different backgrounds. The palace and temple were absolutely beautiful. They were situated up higher on a mountain, and the air was incredibly fresh up there. 

 Left:The entrance to Bhubing Palace Right: Bhubing Palace flower gardens

At the temple I participated in two Buddhist ceremonies. One involved pacing around the golden pagoda three times while meditating. The other was conducted by a monk who splashed water on me and tied a ceremonial white braid around my wrist. 

Right: The stairs leading to the temple   Left: The view from the temple overlook

The golden pagoda at Doi Suthep

After the palace and temple, the classwork for the week started. We went over some teaching basics and some dos and don’ts about Thai culture. I’m hoping that the students I teach have a good understanding of English, otherwise it is going to be really challenging to teach some of the more complex mathematical concepts. Hopefully I will learn more tips throughout the week to help with the language barrier in the classroom.

Last night we got dinner with a bunch of people we had met throughout the day at a few stands set up for the national vegetarian festival. We had fried bananas, vegetable dumplings, and noodles with cabbage and a sweet sauce. Later on we went to see some traditional Muay Thai fights. The skill and grace of the fighters was awesome to watch. They also had some “special fights”. One of these fights featured seven fighters blindfolded in the ring just walking around and finding someone to punch. It was maybe the strangest and funniest thing I have seen so far.

The ringside view

Well it is about time for me to start day two of orientation. I am looking forward to meeting more people and learning more and more about what to expect here in Thailand!