Day 39 // A little less Hot, Humid, and Homesick

More than a month has passed since I left for Bangkok. It's hard to believe I've been teaching for four weeks. It feels like just yesterday I was curled up in a ball on my bed crying about how hard this all is.

But it's not really hard anymore. The storm has settled and things are proving to be more comfortable. 

It's still really freaking hot, but a tad cooler than the week I arrived. 90 degrees now feels like acceptable weather, since it's a cool relief in comparison to the 100+ and NO A/C ANYWHERE from the first couple weeks. I now know how much water to drink so I don't want to kill myself in the sticky, stagnate classrooms. And I've found a new community of people in Chiang Rai to spend time with.

Local Love
We explored Chiang Rai last weekend since our plans to go to Chiang Mai failed when we didn't buy our bus tickets soon enough. Friday night Rachael and I sought out a restaurant, Lung Eed, that apparently has the best Lop Gai (minced chicken) in the north. Halfway in to our meal, and older man came and chatted with us in broken English. The casual conversation turned into him grabbing a chair and sitting down, and he ordered another beer for us. Not a few moments later he grabbed my arm and told me "You remind me of my daughters!" And insisted that he buy our meal. We tried to politely tell him no, but he made sure he paid. He slammed down a shot of whiskey, walked away slightly toasted, and got in his car after saying goodbye multiple times. It was a moment of pure generosity and kindness, and we got a free meal out of it!

After we ate we wanted to find the Clock Tower and began walking. Our new friend from the restaurant drove past us and honked, then turned around and opened the doors to his car. We caught a ride to the Clock Tower and he let us out, calling us daughters again. Rachael and I found a bar that had a happy hour, but the two beautiful bartenders had no idea how to make anything. Definitely was looking more and more like one of those bars... This didn't stop Rachael and she actually went behind the bar with the short Thai ladies to grab the bottles from the back and show them how to make a Long Island Iced Tea. We enjoyed a few drinks and chatted with the bartenders, and they explained that they have only been working for a couple weeks. Of course...that's why they don't know what a Rum & Coke is...

We walked a few feet to the Peace Bar where we enjoyed live music and the company of other expats who all spoke English. I grabbed the number of the guitar player in hopes to sing with their band in the coming weeks. All of us drank beer in the rasta themed bar and exchanged stories of teaching and advice on traveling. Midnight crept upon us and the bar needed to close. The taxi company wouldn't send a car our way and a local older man, Add, offered to drive us home. He had been playing his guitar the whole night with such dedication he would up breaking a string. He grabbed his wounded guitar and took us home. The amount of love and gratitude the Thai's give is outstanding.

Feeling at home
The school is beginning to feel like a part of me as the days go by. On Wednesday night we walked around campus and ran into all of the students making these beautiful creations out of plants and flowers. They smiled and waved to us as we walked by, and explained they were making offerings to the teachers for tomorrow. Thursday was a teacher appreciation ceremony in which the students offer these beautiful flower creations to the teachers as a thank you and a representation of their knowledge and time in school.

Spending just an hour or so walking around and having them smile for my photos yelling HI TEACHA was one of the most gratifying moments I've had here. It feels so special to be a part of their lives.

Made from individual rose petals.

Dying the flowers.

A "snake"

Day 32 // First Crash and Burn

I now have a class under my belt that went absolutely terrible. 

I teach a total of 16 classes: 4 different classes of M2's (7th grade), 4 M3's (8th grade), 6 M4's (9th grade), and one group of gifted M1's (6th grade) that I meet with twice a week. All of my classes have 24 students, which is a perfect amount and totally manageable, except my M1 Gifted class which has 36. Adding 12 preteens to the mixture ensues some rowdiness, but they are the "gifted" students who show proficiency in English. One of the students is able to have fluent conversations with me and I have to ask him to not answer all of my questions to make sure the rest of class gets a chance.

So class yesterday...

Since I meet with the Gifted M1's twice a week, I have to think of an additional lesson plan for the second class. We worked on interview questions last time where I had them ask their friends a series of questions; find someone who has been to Pattaya, find someone who likes pad thai, find someone who has touched snow. I asked them to write the question down (Have you been to Pattaya?) and find someone who has and write the answer (Yes, Amy has been to Pattaya). Seems simple for a group of students very skilled in English.

Uhhhh, I'm out of paper

I met with these students at the last period of the day, and was informed that about 10 new students were added to bump up the total number to 36. I checked my folder before class and I only had 10 additional worksheets to pass out for this "Interview Your Friends" lesson. In the office, we have no new paper (just scraps and already used) and I don't print out any extras, hopeful that the 26 sheets I passed out will all be in their possession, leaving a perfect 10 for the new students. I get to class and there are only a handful of kids sitting down, and naturally none of them have the worksheet. So once the class fills up, there are probably about 10 of them who don't have the worksheet, and I try to explain that I want those who don't have one to write down the questions on a piece of blank paper. Well some don't have any paper AT ALL and they say "Teacha! Need paper! No fair!" because they didn't get a printed worksheet like everyone else. I tried to blame the ridiculous thunderstorm that happened an hour previous to why I didn't have enough to hand out, but they really didn't understand. I put a power point up of the questions and told the kids to stand up and start asking each other questions and writing down the answers. Okay kids stand up! ::nothing:: STAND UP! ::adding hand gestures to stand up:: STUDENTS STAND UP PLEASE ::blank stares:: Thank god Poo (the very skilled English speaker) translated for me, THEN everybody stood up, still with puzzled faces.

From then on it was chaos. 36 students were running around, hitting each other, sitting in the back eating fruit not doing any of the work, or were just completely confused on what to do. 

My voice was completely lost over the sound of a million preteens buzzing around each other. It was pure chaos for about 40 minutes before I decided to pull the plug. I wanted to collect what they had to assess how skilled they were at this assignment, so I asked the class to turn in what they had even if it isn't done. They don't understand this and don't want to turn in a half completed worksheet and look so upset when I take it from them. I try and tell them it's okay and I'm not grading it but they still are sad and distraught. I had ten minutes left but didn't even bother trying to fill it. OK CLASS, I screamed. SEE YOU NEXT WEEK. They all yelled bye and ran out of class. I walked back to the office and all I could do was smile and laugh to myself.  It was a complete shit show, but I got my first disaster out of the way, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. Plus the kids didn't even realize how terrible it was, they just tried to follow along or didn't even care.

Yet another lesson here of going with the flow.

It doesn't matter if your class was a total flop and nothing went the way you planned, and kids just messed around for half an hour because it just is what it is. Everything is okay, and I'm learning that loss of control isn't the worst thing in the world. The day ended just like any other and I had an entertaining experience to laugh at.

Day 30 // An Update on Teaching

It's become very apparent that most of my posts are about three things,

1. Me complaining
2. My infrequent and brief moments of insight and clarity
3. Fun adventures around Thailand

My coverage on teaching (the actual reason I am in Thailand) is lacking sufficiently. 

A day in the life of a (very) novice teacher

I am on day 12 of teaching, and I seem to really enjoy counting days while in Thailand. Every class I've experienced has been overall pretty productive. 

I get to school every day at 7:45, and teach 3-4 classes a day, except Friday where I only teach one (thank the heavens). 4 hours of wrangling pre-teens and teenagers attention is overwhelmingly exhausting. The only thing I can compare it to is a 12+ hour shift working in the food service industry, but in a fraction of the time. 

I leave school every day around 4:30pm, unless a monsoon traps us in the building for an extra hour, and collapse in my bed when I get home. The A/C is blasting and I try to just relax. Interestingly enough, I spend a majority of my day sitting at my desk playing on my computer, writing blog posts, or editing photos, but I am still so tired after all of it. I normally fall asleep at 8 or 9pm, once my room is chilly enough for me to wrap myself in a blanket, and wake up again at 6:45am the next day to do it all over again. 

Getting in the swing of things

Comparing my attitude from the first week to this week I've noticed a significant shift. Already my anxiety has diffused towards my lesson planning. Thailand is so different than America because these students honor and respect you no matter what. Not using this to justify not teaching well, but the students will listen to you and respect your "lesson plan" even if you just play games with them for 50 minutes. I have started to understand the Teacher Talking Time ratio, and how blissful it is to have the students propel their learning on their own. This week I have been using an adjective crossword puzzle for the students to complete in pairs, and the team to finish correctly first gets a prize (candy). It makes them work together and talk in English to find out what adjectives would fit appropriately in certain sentences. This proved to be a very successful game, and helped them apply adjective use to sentences and context more than just pointing to something "tall" or "green."It also gave me a break for most of the class to not be talking at them the whole time. 

A day at a time

Overall, every day keeps getting better. Occasionally I'll have a day where I get way too hot and that results in me getting very cranky and tired, and I'll sleep for 14 hours. But I'm thankful for the A/C in my room and occasionally in the English department to cool me down. I've given up on looking polished and poised with sweat constantly pouring down my face and neck, small steps in acceptance. I'm thankful that my students are ANGELS compared to some of the horror stories I've heard, and they intently listen to me. I'm thankful my department is very on top of their duties and do a (fairly) good job of telling me about things before hand. All in all, I am very blessed at the school I am at, and I just need to remind myself of that when I'm feeling down. Everything here in Thailand is slowly teaching me a lesson I needed to learn. 

Day 27 // Wanderer's Guide to Chiang Rai : Boomerang Adventure Park

Welcome to Chiang Rai, a city where a spontaneous adventure is rewarded with a sanctuary of rocks, caves, and good company.

Where to go

Boomerang Adventure Park, NW of Chiang Rai

What to bring

rock climbing shoes // if you want to seriously climb, sneakers work but not as well

water // I wouldn't be able to survive Thailand with out it

bug spray // those pesky mosquitos love me

trekking shoes // for exploring the overgrown paths through the forests to the caves (although my Birkenstocks did survive)

What to do

climb the beautiful but tough limestone karst walls

explore the nearby buddha cave

love life in the beautiful mountains of Chiang Rai!

~

I am so happy my housemate is down to explore. Rachael found this amazing rock climbing/zip line/adventure park last week and told me how incredible it was. This weekend, I grabbed my climbing shoes and we were off!

The park is absolutely stunning. Nestled in the side of the lush Chiang Rai mountains, the space is wide and open, filled with ropes and swings hanging off of trees and spectacularly intricate rock faces for people to climb. I had the pleasure of meeting Ken, who owns the park, a man in his early 60's. Every wrinkle on his tanned face held a story you were dying to hear, and his crass humor just added to his appeal. 

Ken's employee, Vito, is a spunky and limber Slovakian man with a big smile and his hair naturally coiffed to resemble a Disney character. His friend, Devin, is another English teacher from the states. He reminded me of my brother, particularly in demeanor. All Devin wanted to do was climb, explore, climb, and occasionally take a breather. But then start climbing immediately after. These two climbed with Rachael and I on our first outdoor climbing experience. 

I'm definitely used to bouldering in Tacoma's indoor gym with temperature control. This was extremely evident as I looked up the limestone karst wall and realized you can't plan out a route as easy with no holds or colored tape, and my hands were soaking wet from sweat already. I managed to lug myself up the rock face with multiple groans and scratches, and met some new bug friends on the way. The limestone was more of a jaggedy, sharp sandpaper that made my hands pulse with every grab. 

Vito and Devin about to climb one of the many rock faces.

We took a break when Rachael and I were covered in sweat and our red hands were too sore to continue. Two routes were enough for the each of us. I sat and Rachael made jasmine tea for the group in the sticky outdoor kitchen with no running water. We chatted with each other, and I cherished the eloquent conversation with two new friends who spoke perfect English. It sometimes get very lonely when you aren't able to strike up conversation with just anyone.

A very young girl appeared behind us on her bike and we watched her fall over. She popped right up like nothing happened, but we made sure she was okay. We noticed she already had a significant cut on her face from a previous adventure, and it didn't seem to phase her in the least. 

Hill Tribe girl.

Rachael and I both agreed that more climbing probably wasn't going to happen today, but Ken's talk of a nearby cave peaked our interest. We asked if he would be willing to show us, he agreed and we hopped in his well-loved Volvo down the street. He parked at a small cave entrance and we ducked under the overhang to look inside. A carved stone Buddha watched us in the corner.  Ken hollered at us to follow him down the road, we were headed to the "Mama" cave.

Ken, the owner of Boomerang Adventure Park.

Entrance to the small cave.

Buddha watching from the shadows. 

Walk to the Mama cave.

Of course I didn't bring any hiking shoes/sneakers with me, being the graceful organized person I am. I had my trusty Birkenstock sandals that miraculously made it through an epic forest trek that I sometimes doubted my ability on. All that was missing was a machete to cut down the vines and leaves that were bigger than me. Ken said he cleared a path a few weeks ago to the cave, but one month left untouched and it will look like there was no path to begin with. We pant and huff for about 15 minutes through the forest and over rocks, and eventually arrive in the big cave. I was at a complete loss for words.

::cue heavenly choir of angels singing::

Granted this is all normal for Ken, but Rachael and I were totally flabbergasted by the beauty of this cave. It was probably 100 feet tall to the highest point, and another corner had a lower opening had hundreds of bats casting giant shadows on the walls. Ken explained the bats get very irritated when you make a high pitched noise, and he squeaked to show me what he meant. The bats all started flying faster and chirping louder when Ken agitated them, then immediately went back to normal when he stopped. I truthfully never thought bats could be so beautiful. 

Ken asked us if we wanted to go up the way we came or up the wall of rocks that laddered up to the light. Say yes to everything, right? Let's go the new way (where it looks like I can easily slip and fall and die and be eaten by bats....) Ken scaled these rocks like no other 62 year old man I've ever met. Rachael and I lumbered behind him, careful not to slip to our demise. 

I'm sorry, we are climbing THAT?!

I emerged from the cave with a glow of accomplishment, I seriously can't believe I climbed into a spectacular, magical cave and then out of one via a shiesty rock ladder. We roamed through the forest for another 15 minutes, listening to the warning sounds of the monsoons lurking behind the mountains. Just as the road popped into view, the rain began. We found shelter in Ken's car and he kindly dropped us off in town. We were still buzzing from how incredibly amazing our adventure in the mountains and caves of Chiang Rai just was. Barely one month into this adventure and we are meeting the most wonderful people and doing things I never thought I would ever experience. 

It was days like today that remind me why change and adventure is so good for the soul. You never know what you are capable of until you try something, and you never know the rush it can give you. I never thought of myself as an outdoorsy mountain trekker, but today proved me wrong. My hands are raw and sore, my skin is covered in bites, I haven't stopped sweating, and I smell worse than I thought my body was capable of. But I am absolutely buzzing with excitement and love for life. Another moment I will have forever. 

Day 23 // A Forever Moment

Today Rachel and I had to scramble our things together after our last class and get our pictures taken in downtown Chiang Rai for our work permits that we learned (hours before) were due today. Perfect example of practicing patience in a culture where deadlines and time frames are not stressed. I repressed a groan of inconvenience when I was told this.

A science teacher drove us downtown and thankfully guided us through the process of getting official photos taken. Students packed the place and we waited in line. Serious photos of military professionals and the occasional glamour shot of a white man with his Thai wife (a very common sight in Thailand I've noticed) covered the walls. As we waited, the teacher grabbed some food for us, friend bananas and sweet potatoes. Yes, they were so good it almost made me emotional.

I quickly learned smiling in pictures is not a Thai thing to do, even though Thailand is called the Land of Smiles. Confusing. Of course I learn this after my photos were taken, where I gave them my best sorority girl smile I tried to perfect over the years of composite pictures (remember that time I was in a sorority??). I was told it's not polite to smile in pictures (wtf is polite and isn't?!). Oops.

After getting our pictures taken downtown, Rachel suggested we get dropped off to do our laundry. As much fun as doing laundry by hand is, I really don't enjoy dripping sweat and cleaning my clothes in our scary shower with the ants, mosquitos and visibly brown water. We meet a lady at a small shop and pay a little over $1 each to do a big load each, one at a time, in the one washer she had. She said it would take 3 hours, so Rachel and I walked to a restaurant down the road. We took our time eating, and I noticed the different attention I received because I was wearing my backpack (to put all my laundry in). I looked like such a good tourist roaming around my village in Chiang Rai. People were hollering and saying hello in English and waving. At the market, all the ladies came up to me and put their arm up to mine comparing their skin color to mine. They pointed at me and said "rice" (or white, I couldn't quite understand) and then pointed to themselves and said "black" and would giggle and squeeze my arm even harder. A swarm of other ladies came up to me talking in Thai and grabbing my arms some more, and the most I could understand was that they were calling my pale skin suay (beautiful). Only took 24 years, but I was finally getting positive attention for my pasty freckly skin. Score.

We made a trip to pick up Rachel's laundry and walked back to school to wait until mine is done. A monsoon was threatening in the black clouds above us and I smiled every time I heard thunder crack through the sky. We biked back to the small shop in the sprinkle of rain and waited the 15 minutes for my load to finish. I ask the lady what her name is (in my best Thai) and she replied, "Aoy." Her English was very impressive, and she helped us learn some new words in Thai. A man joined us and looked around the shop. He asked Rachel and I if we like beer. We said yes, but that we didn't want any. He grabbed 3 cans of Chang beer and bought them for us anyway.

The 4 of us spend the next hour drinking beer and learning new Thai phrases in the cool evening monsoon air. Rachel and I struggled to understand the 5 different ways to say maa. Because in one tone it's dog, another it's horse, and another it's come here. And they say English is hard...

We all smiled when we tried to imitate the correct words and failed miserably. I stood out in the rain occasionally, cherishing the sweet damp air reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest. The four of us laughed and learned from each other, and simply enjoyed the presence of one another and the sincerity of the moment. 

I talked with my boyfriend, Eric, about the amazing time I just had doing laundry at a simple shop in Chiang Rai and truly experiencing the culture as a local. I stated it was such a great Thai moment. Then he corrected me, it will be a forever moment.

Day 22 // Emma and Laila

I had the overwhelming pleasure of spending nearly 4 days with my bestest friend in the world, Emma Terry, and meeting her gypsy travel buddy Laila. These two women continued to surprise me over the short time we spent together with their generosity, radiant energy, and sheer joy they brought to every moment.

On monday evening they met me at my school with a "surprise" for me. They lugged heavy backpacks and bags onto my bed and revealed two gallons of "Arizona Desert" paint, brushes, and rollers. Knowing how dreary and sad my room is with it's pale blue serial killer walls covered with sticker remnants and dirt, they came to paint my room and give me a sacred space to live in. My whole soul just swelled with happiness and gratitude at this. How unbelievable kind and thoughtful these women are.

Before (::cue horror movie music::)

After. Radiant and filled with light!

I came home Tuesday afternoon to a clean room with warm colored walls greeting me and my two smiling sisters, showered and relaxing from a 2+ hour painting/decorating spree. I now have a shrine in the northeast corner of my room complete with rocks spray painted gold and my two elephant idols from my dear father and my good friend Emily Strichartz. 

I've never been one to think of the importance of having a "shrine," but being uprooted and moving so quickly to a new country really challenges your notions of feeling grounded and stable. A shrine of beautiful things, meaningful trinkets, or just a clean space that is important to you can provide an abundance of comfort. 

Amazing branch Laila suspended in the corner of my room to house all my jewelry.

Goddesses. Sending Love and Light to you two always. 

I tried to put into words how thankful I was for this gesture of love and kindness Emma and Laila did for me, but found myself being almost overbearing with how much I wanted to tell them "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

The best way I can thank them is to pay it forward and practice this generous way of thinking. Harmony between people is radiant and bursting with life and love when we are genuinely kind and giving to each other. So thank you again, sisters. You two have given me a real home and a brand new set of intentions.

Day 21 // Holding Every Moment Sacred

This weekend in Chiang Rai marked a glorious reunion with two of my college friends, Max Honch and Emma Terry, and it could not have come at a better time.

Max Honch graduated alongside myself and has called Thailand home for the past two years teaching English in Chaing Mai. As he was planning the trip, I remember how envious I was of him when we would carpool together to our internship for a local newspaper in Tacoma. He left shortly after we graduated in May and this weekend was the first time I have seen him since. He wound up staying for an extra year to continue teaching before he moves to Bainbridge Island this August to pursue a Masters in Teaching.

Emma Terry, also known as my better half/sister/goddess/partner-in-crime/bestest friend in the world, left for India last August to become a real life gypsy and blow where the wind takes her. She landed in Auroville, India to learn organic farming, then fluttered off to Goa for a Tantric Yoga retreat, and now she stopped by Thailand to learn Thai Massage, finding many other magical places along the way.

Max arrived with his delightful girlfriend Sarah, and they both kept me laughing all night at dinner with their hilarious stories of teaching Thai students the past two years. Apparently I haven't seen a crazy group of kids until they try lighting the classroom on fire, seriously. Max, you have my utmost respect for handling that situation.

Max and Sarah both can speak, read, and write basic Thai. It's amazing what two years immersed in a new culture and some basic classes can get you, and apparently the language isn't as intimidating as I thought. I was overwhelmed by their skill and even more impressed when they ordered food for us that I have yet to try: Peanut curry, spicy mango salad, and stir fried morning glory. Oh my word, the food here can make any bad day into a good one.

Emma's arrival brought tears of joy to my eyes and I had a hard time believing I was embracing my closest sister in Thailand. 7,500 miles away from where we said goodbye 9 months ago. She arrived with her gypsy, wanderlust travel companion Laila, who's sea-foam green eyes and bejeweled auburn hair absolutely entranced me when I first met her. To call her stunning wouldn't do enough justice.

The 5 of us embarked on a whirlwind weekend, including my first motorbike riding experience, a successful search for a waterfall, the most delicious food I've yet to eat, and late nights enjoying the coup's curfew drinking beer on a kitschy rasta themed hostel deck.

Lunch on at Chiang Rai Beach

Max's tattoo: "Sticky Rice" in Thai ... with some sticky rice

Chiang Rai Beach Huts

Chiang Rai Beach Huts

Chiang Rai Beach Huts

The "Beach"

The trek to the waterfall 

Swimming with the local village kids

Reunited with my sister!!

So much happiness!

Obviously we needed to do cobra pose. 

Needless to say these people are incredibly inspiring and have brought me the pieces of home I was missing so dearly. Seeing the two of them and their counterparts helped ground me in so many ways, and reminded me how good travel and change are for your soul. If those depressing and soul crushing lows didn't happen, everyone would be out doing things like this with no second thought. But you get up again the next morning and look back on the person you were a couple days ago and see how much you've grown.

In one week I already feel like a completely different person from that girl sobbing into her pillow curled up in bed thinking I made a huge mistake because everything was so "uncomfortable." It's almost comical to look back on how badly I was freaking out my first night here. Now I'm training my brain to be filled with encouraging positive thoughts and remembering to live in the present space. I've made it my mission to do one thing every day for me to nourish my mind and my spirit. From yoga to meditation or just an extra long shower, I will spend time engaging in an activity and fully experiencing it. I will honor the present moment instead of obsessing on how many days I have left. Because when this experiences is all over, I can never get it back again.