Teaching at Sangsup Pracha Wittayakarn Prayttaya school

Last week we taught at Sangsup Pracha Wittayakarn Prayttaya School leading another 4 days of English camp. Positive difference from the previous school was that we met with the same class consecutively; so I saw the same student class all 4 days. This enabled me to teach something and actually review it the next day and link the lesson plans. For example you teach vocab words like doctor then you teach places people would work in those occupations and finally teach the sentence structure around it: ' I am a doctor. I work in a hospital.'

Most of the time, to get them to understand, I utilized my keen acting skills (lol) teamed with my far from artistry skills on an old blackboard. I am sure you can imagine me trying to act out a cowboy; the kids thought it was hilarious!! I actually had a nice hat for a prop so it worked...5 minutes later I had the kids saying 'I am a cowboy! I work on a farm!'

The classes were also much smaller; my class was around 30 kids of grades 7 and 8. They all seemed to be eager to learn but after conversations school because they have no where else to go. Many have been neglected by their families and all are very poor. The school itself is comparable to a barn like structure in the middle to a rice field. However I must say that the education here seems to be very good and the kids seem to absorb it, crave it and appreciate it. I guess that is all that matters.

One particularly mischievous child brought in his pet gecko to class on the second day, as the previous day we asked the students to draw their pets. The gecko sat on his shoulder or in his pocket the entire time....better behaved than some of the kids in the class.... I was really impressed! On the last day the kids thought it was pretty funny to play a joke on the teacher. When I was crouching down during one of our breaks to inspect a crab that a few of the boys had been playing with I found out 5 minutes later that one of them had put a huge beetle in my bag. I heard this churpping and I could not figure out where it was coming from. Seconds later I looked down and 'BBBBBbwaahhhh!!!' I through the bag off and started to run away....again laughter from the kids from the little teach afraid of a harmless beetle.

I was really sad on the last day. I asked for endless autographs, stood in many pictures and had even some hugs from the students. When we went to leave the kids ran along side the bus waving with huge smiles laughing 'GOODBYE TEACHERS!' Thoughts going through my mind: is this really considered work? I actually love being here!!

Hard Times: These things do happen

I have some unfortunate news. Just recently I found out my credit card was stolen and someone went on a shopping spree with it in Bangkok. A total of 1,723 euro was charged on my behalf. I had no idea that the card was even missing until a letter was sent to my home in Haarlem saying the card was canceled due to reaching the maximum amount. Neils sent me an e-mail and then I inquired by phone with VISA as soon as I received the fraud indication.

I am sure you can all imagine how upset I am; this is not an easy time. Of course I have canceled the card but VISA International Card Services are saying that I may be held responsible to pay the money. They are saying a pin code was used when the purchases were made. I have never in my life used a pin with the card and always just had to swipe and sign when I have made any purchases.

I was at the Thai police station for 3 hours with the Starfish ventures translator to make a report so that I can provide it to VISA International Card Services to prove that the charges are not mine. I will have to fight that I will not pay the balance; I am sure it will not be easy. This could have serious potential on my future travel plans..... :(

Being BIG in this world, I will try to keep my chin up and think positive. On a better note the teaching was fantastic this week. I am so happy to be there and the kids are awesome! They keep my spirits high in low points like these.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Thoughts on a 10 hour bus ride from Koh Samet

One of the most fore filling yet irritating parts of backpacking is going from place to place. The majority of the time is the hurry up and wait mentality; hurry up to catch the bus and then wait for 3 hours for the train you have to take to get you to your final destination. The people you meet along the way are a breath of fresh air, fresh perspectives from all over the planet.

On a 10 hour bus ride, back to Surin this past weekend, I actually had the time and a clear mind, armed with the bright lights viewed from a rainy bus window and my favorite music engaging my mind to wonder and think about my life, my choices, my future...about me....

I seemed all too easy to let the words come out of my sub conscious; almost like they were already back there waiting to come out hidden beneath the cob webs and the redundancy that I accidentally let my life slip into. When I say I believe in dreams - I mean it and I intend to live them. On this bus ride I started making promises to myself to ensure I do not fail at living my dreams with hopes that I am brave enough to go for them. I promised to stop being sick of waiting in the waiting line with fear of the worst happening to me and ultimately not following my heart fearful of judgment and failure.

I strive to be a woman of Renaissance; talented in many areas. I want to live and learn with an open mind and heart free from judgment and fear of that judgment from others. I want to learn from those around me, through their experiences and perspectives. No matter who you are encountering there is always something to learn from them and use in your life. It really is a gift that I encourage all to embrace.

As far as reflecting on my own faults, well, from this day forward I give up on my addiction of being a perfectionist that has eaten away at me for as long as I remember; my Achilles heel. I accept my faults as part of who I am. All of my parts make me, well...me...a beautiful talented person whom has so much to offer.

One of the reasons why I dreamed to travel was I wanted to see how big I really was in this world. Answers can be found on long bus rides like these staring through a rainy window. The answer is I am very big in this world, I am big in this life and I am just me; naked emotions both bitter and sweet, day dreaming of butterflies, consistently contemplating, desiring to be brave with knees shaking and forever shamelessly restless.

I would never trade me or my life and my choices for anything in this world.

The above was written September 15 at 1:30 am on a blank page in my book after a sudden urge to just write it all down.

Teaching English Camp at Panason Wittaya School

Where is Surin?
Surin is a large province on the Mun River basin in the lower Northeast of Thailand; approximately 450 kilometes nother east of Bangkok.

What am I doing in Surin?
I am currently undergoing a volunteer project for the next 4 weeks, with Starfish ventures, to teach English amongst the multiple schools in the surrounding area. The first assignment for this week is to conduct an English language camp at Panason Wittaya School which is about 30 minutes east of Surin. The camp covers grades 7 to 12 and the various age groups are spread out amongst 4 days of English Camp. There are 4 other English teachers (3 from the UK, one from Australia) on the project and a total of 640 students that are enrolled in the camp. I know what you are thinking, most likely same thing that I did when I arrived; that is a lot of students in regard to teacher ratio! Today between 2 teachers (grades 9 and 10 split in half) we taught a total of 100 students our activities. The activities consisted of basic greetings and where you come from. We also went over numbers, colors, emotions, jobs (occupations) and body parts through various activities and games. The challenge comes when we not only had to put the entire program, timetables, props etc together but crowd management: how do you keep 100 children engaged (hopefully enthusiastically) to get them to learn interactively when they don't speak your language with only 2 teachers? The real challenge was realized when many of the students did not speak or understand basic English...I mean when I ask them what their name is and how old they are they can not tell me and not understand the question! This was not the case for every student but many were struggling with the basics. This we tackled with speaking very slowly and using body language, pictures and a whole lot of animated acting skills!! LEARNING BASIC COMMANDS IN THAI IS A NECESSITY: like "gnaip gnaip" which means be quiet or "Kru" which means teacher.

Of course we get some help from the Thai English teachers who translate some of what we say but in all honesty they are speaking remedial English themselves which we also struggle with.

Overall taking on the challenge to teach English was not as easy as I thought; it takes a lot of time and preparation before the lessons, how the day will run, props, practicing what we want to teach that is very time consuming. We spent 5 hours after school the first day just to plan what and how we wanted to teach the kids. Last night an additional 3 as we tackle a different age group tomorrow in order to tailor the lesson.

On a very positive note, after the second day the kids really loved us; they asked us for autographs, many giving hugs and of course genuine smiles and thanking us for being there. I left for home completely exhausted but happy that today I made a difference; I actually could see the progress and felt so important to these kids.

Surin - Let's get to the teaching!!

We arrived in Surin just this morning after taking the night train from Bangkok. The trains have sleeping compartments; top and bottom beds accompanied by clean sheets and a curtain for each bed to block out any light. I fell asleep quickly to the rocking lull of the train.

Accompanied by our Thai Starfish venture coordinator Gae, we arrived at 5:30 this morning and were taken by tuk tuk to our guest house. After a restful sleep I awoke and wondered around town a bit. Surin is very different from the busselling polluted craziness of Bangkok. The people here are very friendly and are not nice to you because they want you to buy something they sell. The smiles are are genuine but speak very little English!! I think we are the only farang (what Thais call foreigners) around for miles! I have learned a few Thai phrases which are coming in handy. Besides the basic ones like Hello, goodbye, please and thank you I have been picking up ones like 'Kor Tom Yum Gung Ped Ka' which means "I would like Tum Yum soup, spicy please!" and 'Kid car sia hi' which means "What's the damage?" I get a lot of smiles when I use this one - farang knows slang Thai when asking for the bill!

Today we toured the town which is pretty chill, has a good market, free gym facility (woo hoo I am there) and many places to eat all around 25 minutes walking distance from our guest house. I had to guess what I was having for breakfast this morning; it was quite humorous when I showed up to the Thai menu and I had to point at what I was having. I ended up with Chicken soup with noodles which I added a few teas spoons of chill flakes too; I am becoming quite addicted to spicy food because not only does it taste good but it cools you down because it is so hot here.

Tomorrow we start our fist day at school; there are 6 other English teacher whom are volunteering with Starfish. Tomorrow is introduction day and the ages we will teach range from age 13 to 18; about 280 students for two teachers. Don't ask me how I am going to entertain this many kids but I will have to manage. I am excited, nervous yet at the same time feeling happy about the challenge. Most of all I look forward to give it my best shot because I have everything to gain from this experience!