Update - for Uncle Moe ;)

I haven't posted much on the blog in the past few months because for one, I don't have nearly as much downtime to ponder life as I did in Korea. Along with school, I've been pretty busy as of late with visitors and holidays. (life is rough) Secondly, practically my entire family has Facebook now, including my Grandma, so I haven't felt the need to update this as much.

However there are a few souls left in the world that don't have Facebook (and I commend them for not getting sucked in to what can become a life-consuming addiction) and for them I felt compelled to update. Especially my Uncle Moe in Michigan; the location-reader at the lower right hand of this page has shown a regular visitor from Sault Saint Marie, which is most likely him. This one's for you Uncle Moe ;)

The Facebook world will know that after weighing the pros and cons for months, I decided to take a position at Colegio Americano de Torreon, an American International school in Torreon, Mexico. When I went home for Christmas, I was gutted hearing about all the weddings and such I was missing this spring and summer, and I decided I wanted to be closer to home. Torreon is about a 5 hour flight from Minneapolis, verses a 25 hour flight from Bangkok, so that was what ulitimately tipped the scales.

I felt pretty good about my decsion for about a week, but after that, have been questioning it ever since. Since I decided to leave, Thailand continues to grow on me.

Just now I was sitting next to the river here in Pai, a beautiful little mountain town in Northern Thailand, enjoying the sunshine and the scenery and a Diet Coke, thinking, why am I leaving this?

I'm still not sure I made the right decision, but it's a little late now. I've already told family, friends, and my present and future employers that I am moving to Mexico in August, but I am very sad about what I'm leaving behind. As of now I have a little over 4 months left in Thailand, and I'm going to try and make the best of them.

Cocktails by the pool at our resort in Pai. Life is good :)

Today's Screenshot

"Pak Chong is not a valid city"

Like I needed Gmail to tell me that...

Good riddance, rainy season!

(Written October 30th)

Upon our return from Bali, the rain stopped and "cold season" was upon us. As a Minnesotan, I've experienced blistering cold, sub-zero winters and was a bit skeptical, but it actually is cold right now. Granted I live in a poorly insulated bamboo hut, but as I'm writing this, I'm sitting at my computer wearing long sleeves, long pants, and fuzzy socks with a fleece blanket wrapped around me.

Let it be known, I am not complaining in the least; merely observing. Pretty much any weather is better than the miserable, incessant rain that causes clothes to grow mold spots and my allergies to go berserk.

Life in Pak Chong from here on out will drastically improve. Plus, only 7 more weeks until my next vacation ;)

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.

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.

First Impressions

I've been in Pak Chong for 2 days now, trying to get over jet lag and adjusting to the sweltering heat. It's pretty much unbearable during the afternoons, but I do have AC in the bedroom of my 'hut' and in my classroom at school, thank God.

It turns out that where I'm living isn't quite as remote as I imagined. In fact, as we were driving through Pak Chong on the way to my school, we passed "Premium Outlet Khao Yai," an outlet mall that looked similar to ones in the States, complete with a Starbucks. I always find it somewhat comforting when a Starbucks is within reach, it means you can't be that far out of civilization.

However, I don't have my own means of transport yet, so for now I am pretty isolated here in the village. Most of the staff at SIS live in a cluster of bungalows across the street from the school.

My bungalow is pretty sweet. It definitely needs some sprucing up inside, but it's about 3 times as big as my apartment in Seoul. I have a REAL kitchen with an oven this time, so I have no excuses for not cooking. The porch is pretty awesome too.

The only downside (besides the heat) is my recently developed fear of snakes. I've never really liked snakes (really, who does?) but now that I'm living somewhere where they are actually a threat, I'm truly paranoid. My coworker Nicole told me that someone once found a snake in the bottom of their wardrobe, and now I keep imagining that a snake is going to jump out at any moment and attack me. (Poisonwood Bible, anyone?)

There are lots of creatures in the village; mostly geckos and all sorts of insects, and a huge toad that scared the living daylights out of me last night. All of this is going to take some getting used to. I sort of feel like I'm at camp right now, it hasn't really set in that this is my life for the next year.

Had my first day of work yesterday, this week is teacher prep and next Monday school starts. I spent most of the morning in a jet-lagged daze while a lot of information was thrown at me. It was a little overwhelming but I think today will be better. I've just been looking through the previous teacher's files and trying to piece together what she did with students on a day-to-day basis.

I found out I will have "Year 8" through "Year 13," which means students aged 12-18. The school uses the British National curriculum, which I have zero experience with, so this year will be a lot of learning as I go. I can already tell that my position here will be far more demanding than my job in Seoul, but that's what I wanted. My class sizes are really small (they estimate I'll have 10 kids per class max) so I'll actually get to know my students and I'm looking forward to that.

That's about it for now. I find myself missing Minnesota and Seoul a lot, but it was like that in the beginning in Korea as well; I just need to give it some time.

I hope this post has satiated those of you who are living vicariously :)

XoXo,
Taryn


A few pictures:

My hut
My bedroom, complete with mosquito netting

View from my front porch

The Staff Village

My School


Trying to stay awake my first day, after 22 hours of flying

24 days...

So I'm leaving for Thailand in less than a month.

FAQ: Are you excited?

Yeah, but I haven't thought too much about it. I've done this before, so I kind of know what to expect. I know that I'll get homesick from time to time, but overall, I'll be fine. I've also been really busy teaching summer school, taking a graduate course online, and attending various family/friend functions.

But as August 13th approaches, there some things I am a little concerned about regarding life in rural Thailand. Actually I'm not sure if where I'm living is considered rural, but it seems like the middle of nowhere from the extensive research I've done. (i.e., stalking future coworkers on Facebook)

My concerns:

1. Weather in the 80's-90's year round.

Yes, I despise January and February in Minnesota. But can I really handle the opposite extreme?

2. Cobras.

According to one of my future coworkers, they are present in the staff village. Cobras!

3. Scorpions

This photo was taken in Khao Yai National Park, just a few miles down the road from where I'll be living. Awesome!
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/eternalsun/253846691/]

4. AC in the bungalows?

I should probably ask about this. (And yes, I'll be living in a bungalow)

Photo courtesy of Corinne, future coworker I've been stalking on Facebook


5. Being an hour away from civilization

The closest legit city is Korat. Bangkok is a 2 1/2 hour bus ride away. And from what I've been told, there isn't much going on in Pak Chong, which is 10K away from the school.



7. Having to cook for myself.

I don't cook...ever. In Seoul I ate out almost all the time. I could walk down the street and order some bibimbap or kimchi jiggae at any number of little Korean restaurants in my neighborhood. I think the principal at my new school told me there is ONE Thai restaurant near the staff village. Looks like it'll be scrambled eggs or grilled cheese for dinner every night, or actually learn how to cook.

8. Availability of Western food?

I LOVE Thai food, but I know from traveling there for 2.5 weeks this spring that even Chicken Curry gets old when you have it every night for dinner.

I was spoiled in Seoul. I had immediate access to pretty much every "Western" convenience and necessity. For the items I was unable to attain, my Mom and Grandma sent care packages. I feel like they are over the whole daughter/granddaughter abroad thing now and the care packages will be few and far between.

This is going to be an interesting year. Stay tuned to see if this self-proclaimed "city girl" can hack it for a year in the Thai jungle.