Sweet Civilization

This past weekend I went to Bangkok, for no particular reason other than I just needed to get out of the village. The previous weekend, it rained all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday and we were cooped up inside the damp huts the whole time with shoddy internet service. I went a bit stir crazy. This weekend I wasn't going to leave fate in the hands of this cursed rainy season.

The trip was exactly what I needed; I got to walk around the city, shop, chill by the pool, eat Korean and Western food, attend a yoga class, drink really good wine, admire cute boys (Pak Chong is lacking in that department... at least ones that are as tall as I am) browse an English bookstore, etc. Basically I indulged in all of the things I can't get in Pak Chong.

It's probably a good thing I live in the countryside after all, because I dropped some serious baht in a very short period of time. But it is nice to know that civilization is only a 2 hour, 180 baht van ride away.

A few highlights:

I was very happy to stumble upon "Koreantown," located along Sukhumvit Road between Nana and Asoke BTS Stops. There are several decent Korean restaurants and a Korean Food Mart.


Big surprise, the area was full of Korean tourists, who come all the way to Thailand just to eat Korean food. So typical.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at Siam Paragon, a classy shopping mall located at Siam BTS Stop

Kinokuniya Bookstore, where most of my baht went

Okay, so we actually do have DQ in Pak Chong, but I was on an indulgence kick
Coffee/Oreo Blizzard...mmmm. Do we have this in the States?

I devoured this magical pizza after a 90 minute yoga/pilates class. The calories even out, right? ;)

The restaurant is called Pomodoro, right by Nana station on Sukhumvit. Try the Cabarnet Sauvignon; it's worth all 260 baht.

Ahhh... can't wait to go back :)

Wai Kru

This morning our school held a "Wai Kru" Ceremony, a ritual during which Thai students formally pay respects to their teachers. Initially I was excited because it meant I had one less lesson to prepare for today, my busiest teaching day of the week. But it was actually a really neat ceremony that left me feeling really good about my decision to teach here, something I've questioned more than once in the past few weeks. (See last few postings)

First, the entire student body knelt and said a chant in Thai, expressing gratitude for the hard work that we teachers do and asking us to bless their academic studies. This was followed by a song in Thai that had a similar message.



Then a representative from our respective homeroom classes presented us with flower arrangements they had prepared the night before. Other students gave us flower bracelets (not sure what they are called officially) and the student who gave me my bracelet knelt down, took my hand and very sincerely told me she wished that I would be very happy in my life.

How cool is that? A high school student wishing her teacher happiness? Not something I can imagine transpiring while teaching in "the West."



The ceremony itself was great, but the best part was when one of the Year 13 students who was an M.C. talked about how the students voted him the most "eloquent" speaker.

"Eloquence" was one of our weekly vocabulary words, and I wondered if he maybe incorporated it into his speech after learning it in my class. Then I thought, nahhh, he probably just translated it from Thai.

But afterwards, he said, "Ms. Taryn, did you hear me use "eloquent" in my speech?" and proceeded to tell me he deliberately put it in there!

We teachers live for these sparse, yet validating moments. I've spent more time lesson planning in the past five weeks than I maybe ever have in my life, and because I'm still getting used to the curriculum here and figuring out my students' ability levels and the UK teacher lingo, etc. etc., I often wonder if all the time I spend preparing lessons or drilling grammar is getting us anywhere; whether anything is sticking. It seemed like it wasn't, considering I spent the first week drilling subject-verb agreement with all classes, a mistake that still shows up all over the place in their written and spoken English.

But it's nice to know that something is sticking, and that the work I've put in is appreciated.

Happy Wai Kru, and a special shout out to the teachers who don't get ceremonies where flower arrangements are placed at their feet. Outside of Asia, teaching can be a thankless profession.

Year 8's Arrangement (My homeroom)


I should have sent these kids back to class, but instead participated in a class-delaying photo shoot

Glass half-full

Sunday, September 19th

I was having a bit of a freak out moment today when it was raining and I was trapped in the hut, wishing I were in a big city like Seoul, or back home, but I'm okay now.

I just read through some old blog postings and it reassured me that everything will be fine. Civilization will be waiting for me when I want to go back, whether that's home or another country or another U.S. city (which I've been thinking about lately).

It's only been a month. It's going to take a little more time to get the hang of things and I need to not be so hard on myself for not being a perfect teacher from the get-go. There's no way I'm going to have a perfect lesson plan every day when I'm prepping for 4-5 different classes.

Hopefully the kids are learning something even if the lessons have been sort of scattered all over the place so far. I've been trying really hard to adapt materials and lessons to the needs of each group. It's going to take a little bit more trial and error to find what works for them and me, and I can't beat myself up about that.

I need to focus on the positives when I get down like that.

I'm learning and growing and getting good teaching experience. I'm developing lots of lessons I can use in the future. Heck, I'm going to Bali in 4 weeks and India in April! It's like my Eat, Pray, Love year.

Not to mention I'm challenging myself to live outside of my comfort zone. (read: the middle of nowhere) Not everyone could do that.

Plus I haven't bought any new clothes in over a month. That has to be like a new world record for me.

In other words, quit spazzing Taryn, everything will be fine.

I hate Thursdays

September 15th, 9:51 pm

I just sat at school for two and a half hours to prep and I really didn't get that much done. I'm having an 'overwhelmed' day. 5 different classes to prep for is a lot. Finding materials that work, making worksheets; all that takes a lot of time. I hate Thursdays.

August 18th, 5:58 am

Thoughts swirling around my head this morning @ 3:00 am: I am not cut out for this. I'm a city girl. I took this job for the wrong reasons; namely I was scared of a 2 year commitment. I also liked the way "living in a hut in the Thai jungle" sounded vs. the day to day reality.

I know it will get better. But this is a huge life adjustment. Plus I'm super overwhelmed by the idea of planning for 5 different age groups, based on a curriculum and testing system I don't know. Freaking out a little. And it doesn't help that my body still isn't on Thai time.

Have been waking up at 3 am like clockwork every night so far.