A Hike With Friends 10/7

A Few of the teacher trainees got invited by some of the monks to do a little hike over the weekend. About a group of 10 Fellow Teacher Trainees did the hike to the top of a hill behind the temple. It was lovely to get a chance to get a deeper look at the temple and the surrounding grounds. While we are training, we tend to stay near the main building and the classrooms. Joe, a young monk, was kind of enough to invite us all. He along with about 10 other monks acted as hospitable guides of the temple and the surrounding grounds. They showed us the library, housing near the temple, and a few other buildings. The monks as well as the Thai Teachers live near the temple.

After we got a little tour, we began our hike up. The hike wasn't a long hike, but it was beautiful. We hiked through lush greenery and walked over moss ( very slippery) covered stones. I was spraying myself like crazy since mosquitoes love me! After about 10-15 minutes, we reached the top. What a View! We had a view of the ocean and could hear the waves crashing. On the top, there were 2 additional temple buildings or shrines. One housed a Buddha where people can pray or meditate. The other housed an extremely old piece of inscribed stone that was brought all the way from Myanmar by Boat a few hundred years ago. It was hard to get more information since there was a language barrier that prevents articulation of detail within our conversations with the younger monks. I'll have to find out more from others that can explain more.We all spent much of the time conversing and enjoying the lovely Sunday afternoon. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to do the hike with a wonderful group!

The Beginning 9/26

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 have 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 the 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. We 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.