As many of you know, I am now in Thailand. I am training to be an English teacher for about a month and will then move on to my 4 month teaching assignment. ( To the left is an elephant that just happened to be hanging out at a Night Market in Rayong with it's owners. I, along with a few friends got to feed it sugar canes!)
My experience in Thailand has been great so far. I arrived to Thailand with no delays and was picked up at the Bangkok airport by my Aunt and Cousin. ( Who speaks little English - This was quite a task
to communicate, but a great way to learn Thai!) I stayed in Bangkok for 2 days with my Aunt and Cousin.Unfortunately, I got food poisoning my 2nd night, but was rushed to a great Thai hospital.( the best hospital experience I've had, minus the fact that I don't speak Thai - but the doctors do speak English)
Now, Mind you, I don't want this to deter you from visiting me in Thailand. Most of you know that I have a sensitive stomach! I was actually in Thailand for a month when I was 18 and never got sick - and was eating EVERYTHING but tap water. Thailand has the best Street Vendor food - all 65 of my fellow teaching trainees are from the U.K. , Australia, U.S. and other English Speaking Countries - and haven't gotten sick at all and have been eating EVERYTHING and are loving it!
Back to my update, I am now staying on a Beach in between the cities of Rayong and Ban Phe. We are right ON THE BEACH..and it's amazing. It's great to be near a beach and to h
ave the water be about 70 degrees! The water is so warm and the beach is beautiful. It's so warm that many people go swimming at the wee hours of the night. The location is great, and we are near a pier where we can travel to the most world renowned Thai Islands with White Sand Beaches.About 90% of my fellow teacher trainees and I went to Koh Samet on our 1st weekend. It was a blast. The Island is so beautiful and pristine - in most areas. I spent a lot of the time on t
he beach with my new friends Chelsea and Taryn.We did an amazing trek along the coast line and enjoyed refreshing beverages with orchids as garnishes! The highlight of the Island trip was getting invited to share a bottle of whiskey & Snacks by a group of 4 Thai sisters( Group shot with the 4 Sisters and one of the sister's son child in 5th Picture down). They were so kind and welcoming, Taryn and I will always remember how sweet they were...oh, and the 4 a.m. swim in the ocean that they encouraged us to do! When in Rome :)
As far as the Teacher training, it is intense but not as difficult as it sounds. There are a large portion of trainees that have NO teaching experience and there are a handful that do. The training is from 9 - 430 with breaks. We have our teacher training at a Buddhist Temple, so it's an interesting place to have class. W
e see all the monks in their orange robes and hear them chant every so often. A lot of the monks ( trainees) are young, some as young as 5. They're all either elementary, middle school, high school age. And the actual monks are older. Monks cannot eat after noon, cannot touch women ( not even a handshake) and have many other strict rules of life to abide by. We have to dress a certain way ( cover up, no showing our shoulders and no pants or skirts above our knees. It definitely gets hot in the Temple as Thailand has a humid climate, but it's just awesome to be able to train here so I cant complain too much! There are many other Thai cultural rules and faux paus that we must respect, so its a learning a process.