Chiang Rai Adventure

Beautiful Chiang Saen

Hi all-
Things are getting into the Christmas spirit here—although Thai's celebrate Christmas and New Year's as the same thing so everyone but me is celebrating next week. I, however, kicked off the week with a Christmas lesson to prepare the kids for Christmas jeopardy next week. Should be a rockin' good time although the lesson fell a little flat with some of the younger students who can barely say my name is...in English. I can't help but wonder if my energies would be better spent with some of the older students who actually might be able to understand what I say...
Anyways, teaching is challenging (I know you are all thinking Duh!) but that fact is becoming very real. I know I should just take it one week at a time but it's hard to not question what the heck I'm doing here sometimes (especially when you have a particularly bad class who you spend at least 15 minutes of the class telling to sit down or be quiet. I'm kind of glad I have a little while before the next big holiday (Valentine's) so I can get back to lessons with vocab they might actually use...there's not a whole lot of opportunity to use the words sleigh or stocking in Thailand.

Last week was the giant 17 province Academic and Art Fair which I went to on Wednesday at 1pm and didn't get home until 8. There were tons of booths with exhibits (mostly in Thai) and a huge dance show.


Part of the dance show!


So many students!!! So many dances!

I even got to see my friend Jamie, a fellow ETA. Look at our awesome teacher outfits.


Jamie, another ETA and I at the Academic Fair

Thursday, I went to a party with Director Sumet, Carol, and the head of the English department, Peter. The party was for a teacher who had left out school to become a director of a secondary school in Chiang Mai...and I'm still not sure which one he was. I met a lot of directors of schools that night because they were all in town for the academic fair. They also made me get up and play country roads on a mini stage with a microphone. Pretty mortifying but kind of fun when Peter started singing along. Also our new Chinese teacher is an opera singer so it was pretty funny to hear him booming above the crowd.

Last weekend, I hitched a ride with one of the teachers into Chiang Rai (about an hour long drive). This involved a lot of awkward conversation (mostly in Thai though!) and a bathroom stop. Thais really seem to like their bathroom stops...
I was delivered to my friend Leah's school and then we took a tuk tuk into town to enjoy some very delicious Mexican food (!) and walking around the night market there. Chiang Rai felt like such a big city, which means I've been in Chiang Saen too long because it is most definitely not a big city. :) But it was crazy to see so many other foreigners and all the western-style shops, restaurants, and signs catering to the foreign crowd. At one point, I was in a 7-11 and I looked around to see that there were all foreigners in the store, except for the clerks. Craziness.
We met up with some ETA's from last year and the other English teachers from Leah's school and had an awesome time comparing notes on teaching/Thailand and speaking in comfortable, rapid English in an adorable cafe/bar. On Saturday, Leah took me out for American breakfast AND to Big C, which is kind of like a target or walmart super store. So many things!!! I bought a lamp, a new shirt, scoped out where the nutella is and of course stocked up on chocolate (all the essentials...ha). We went to the Saturday night walking street which is quite a scene. So many different types of food (and coconut ice cream served in half a coconut), clothes (check out my awesome new shirt below), and even a live contra dance of sorts going on in the plaza. We went out to a Thai night club after as a last hurrah for one of last year's ETA's who is headed home today. She seemed ready to go which is completely understandable. I half wished she was sticking me in her bag so I could go home for Christmas. The holidays are just such a weird time to be away. Leah and I are planning on making our own awesome Christmas/Hannukah celebration though with hot chocolate, Christmas movies, candy canes, and dreidel. We are also planning to go to this random foreigner's restaurant where supposedly a lot of expats go for christmas. We ran into the owner and once he said smoked, bbq-ed pork, I was in!


Delicious coconut ice cream


My awesome new T-shirt!

On Sunday, Leah and I adventured to some hot springs where we were able to dip our feet in the pool and only get a little splashed from this adorable little boy who really thought we spoke/understood Thai. The highlight, however, was my first Thai massage. It was glorious! An hour of getting my sore running muscles stretched and kneaded back into happiness for only 100 baht (that's about $3.25 folks!). I think this might have to become a more regular event :)

We tried to find this elephant camp the purportedly has a baby elephant but we were sent on a wild goose chase because we were told to look for the wrong sign. Oh well, we found an adorable cafe with pumpkin soup instead. On my way back to Chiang Saen with another English teacher we stopped and had the most amazing things that were kind of like french fries but made from a bean instead. The were hot, crunchy, and dripping in oil and the best part...gluten free! Yummmm!



Now it's back to the grind although I did receive Christmas packages/letters from my parents, Aunt Nancy and Aunt Sharylyn that I am very very excited to open...THANK YOU!!! You don't know how exciting it is to get mail here!!!

Take care and stay in touch! Happy almost Christmas everybody...ho, ho, ho!

CRL

P.s. Here's my new electric wok! And my first Thai cooking foray...scrambled eggs!