On teaching and food!

My class!


It's hard to believe that I've already been in Thailand for one month. For the last week and a half, I was practice teaching at a school in the heart of Bangkok. We (the ETAs) were under the impression that we were teaching at our host-sisters all girls, elite, private school but when we arrived there on tuesday, we were surprised to see many boys and were informed we would be teaching at a low income school so as best to get a feel for what we would be doing in the provinces. My co-teacher and I looked at each other, dreading that our lesson plan would have to be thrown out the window. We arrived in class and all the students were waiting for us quietly (in Thailand, students usually arrive over an hour early for school because school is somewhere fun!). We made it through our introductions and tried to remember to speak slowly. Since Caitlin is way to much of a mouthful for most Thais, I had my students call me Miss K. This worked out well because the second day when we quizzed them on my name every student replied, “Miss K.” Steven, my co teacher was not quite as lucky—and Stewen was almost Steven by the end of the five days.

Our first lesson was on introductions and sports. We had them do charades and they were so adorable!
My favorite students (don't tell anyone!) were nicknamed Alm and Aum. Aum was the tiniest little girl with the standard school girl bob. Though she was one of the youngest students in the class, and spoke so softly in her high little voice, she nearly always gave the answer when asked and tried really hard to practice her English. Alm was this little rascal of a boy who is a b-boy which for those of you who don't know is a break dancer. He was smart as a whip and a goofball at heart and had one amazing moment where we got both he and his friend to sing and dance while they recited a dialogue (we were having students do a dialogue about jobs in different styles: loud, soft, fast, slow, singing, and dancing. hilarious!). I think the feeling was mutual because he spearheaded a group to come up to us teachers on the last day to ask specifically for Miss K's email (steven had already put his up on the board). So cute! Teaching was such a great experience and helped me feel slightly calmer about heading to my host school. One of the teachers who was observing us commented during the group feedback session how she loved watching me teach because I was just so smiley. This is a huge compliment in Thailand, the land of smiles.

On our second to last day of practice teaching, two teachers from our host school came to observe us in action. My school sent Peter and Den, the head of the department and another English teacher. Peter spent most of the lesson taking pictures and then talking to me about Chiang Saen during my co-teacher's lesson.
Then the eating fest began...
Fulbright took us to the All Season hotel and fed us an all you can eat buffet lunch with every type of meat represented except beef. The highlight for me was, surprise, the dessert—a coconut milk soup with sweet bananas in it served piping hot. Then we met with our teachers for feedback,etc. My teacher said he had been mostly taking pictures and didn't have any feedback but said I spoke very clearly. My other host teacher talked about the procreation of English language learning....hmmm. After the meeting we got a tour of the Fulbright office and the director, Ptip, read our palms. She told me I was very stubborn, worked hard for what I got, and would have a very happy, easy love life. Pretty good considering the hemming and hawing that went on when she was reading the other ETAs' love lines.


Me and my host teacher, Peter

Before long, we were carted two hours in Bangkok traffic to another hotel where there was another giant eating fest. I must have eaten something too spicy along the way because by the end of dinner, things were rumbling in a not good way...
Then in true Thai fashion we were all called upon to present the Thai dance/song we learned in front of all the host-teachers. With my stomach gurgling uncomfortably, I reluctantly made my way to the front of the room with the rest of the ETAs. We danced around swaying our hands from side to side with our fingers splayed accordingly until eventually all the host teachers and staff joined us. Next, they wanted us to show an American dance....so naturally we chose the cha cha slide. Now for those of you who are not fortunate enough to be familiar with the cha cha slide it involves lots of hopping, turning, and hip undulations...pretty much the last thing you want to be doing when your stomach feels like it is about to explode. I valiantly made it through the dance though to be honest, my hops did not get me more than a half inch off the ground. I though the worst was over when I made it back to my seat but NO. Ptip had heard that Steven was a ballroom dancer and wanted him to demonstrate. Well who is the only other ETA with even an iota of ballroom dancing experience, that's right, me.
Soooooo I got up and we started to salsa. The was this moment in the middle of the dance where you swing open to face the audience and I had a moment where I was thinking, this is it, I might actually poop myself in front of all these people. Thankfully, I made it through the dance without too much fumbling and certainly no evidence of my rambunctious bowels. But phew, that was a close one!

Finally, I just had to bring this up because everyone seems to associate Thailand with food. I found my favorite dish thus far and the cutest vendor lady on the planet. The dish is called yam mung sen and a glass noodle salad usually served with a variety of seafood and mushrooms. My vendor though offers some of the tastiest barbecue pork around and I was in love. This dish is also one of the few i've found with tomatoes and onions and man it is so good. I also have a dim sum restaurant around the corner where each order costs about 50 cents. I tried thousand year old duck egg and these crazy green noodles. I also found my favorite neighborhood dessert when i'm not eating $0.50 ice cream bars from 7-11. It is coconut balls with gooey coconut and kind of a mochi thing on the inside found at our neighborhood night market. SO GOOD!


coconut ball

If nothing else, i'm sad to be leaving all the delicious food I have found in Bangkok but I'm sure I will find new favorite vendors in Chiang Saen.

Finally, as more of a P.S., I visited Wat Po, one of the most famous temples in Bangkok. It was absolutely gorgeous and so peaceful in the grounds. It was also conveniently located near this awesome restaurant where my friend and I got banana flower salad and coconut milk shrimp soup that were out of this world good!


Wat Po

My host-sister took my to another Wat yesterday where we got to light incense to make a wish, listen to the monks chanting, and ring bells to keep bad luck away. It was such a cool experience to have with her and Thai temples really are just so beautiful. My host family also took me to Korean hot pot today and to the Siam museum where another photo shoot ensued :).


The host fam...

I leave for Chiang Saen at 5:30 am tomorrow so off to bed with me. Miss you all!