Friday, January 23, 2015

All is Merry and Bright.. Right?

If anyone knows me well they know how much my family and friends mean to me. So experiencing a holiday season without them was tough. Like really tough. During the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas I was most homesick I have been while being out here. The food was wrong, the weather was wrong, the company was wrong. But you know that little "silver lining" saying? Even though I wasn't able to have a warm family filled holiday season, I was able to grow closer to the people around me, and I was able to grow closer to Jesus in my faith. Stepping away from the commercialized Christmas season we see in America really forced me to create my own Christmas feeling. It was much more intimate and God focused. Which at the time seemed lonely, but looking back a month later I see the beauty of what I went through. It was hard, but life changing, well at least I can say 'perspective changing'. Needless to say there is no way I would have been able to make through with my friends here in Thailand, and my faith.

Semester Break

This post is going to be long one so bare with me.

September 26 - October 20 was Srisawat's semester break. It's the equivalent to Christmas break in the States. All foreign teachers in Thailand take this time to travel and explore Thailand, and the rest of SE Asia. It's usually the time when friends and family come to visit as well. I partook in all of the above. I kinda went crazy with the traveling in the short 3 week break but it was totally worth it.

Ok here's my travel timeline from my break:

Nan >> Bangkok/ 1 night >> Koh Chang, Thailand / 5 nights >> Bangkok/ 2 nights >> Siem Reap, Cambodia/ 4 nights >> Bangkok/ 4 nights >> Krabi, Thailand/ 4 nights >> Bangkok/ 7 hours >> Nan

...Yeah I know right? It was a lot of traveling. Mostly by plane, but there was a 5 hours bus ride thrown in there as well. I'm gonna break this down into 3 legs of the my journey.

1st: Koh, Chang Island, Thailand

I left almost immediately after the last final test ended at school. I flew down to Bangkok where I met Roddy. It was his first time traveling abroad so I just knew we were in for an adventure. We headed to Koh Chang, Thailand the next morning. Koh Chang translates to "Elephant Island", and it is breathtaking. The island has beautiful beaches with crystal teal water, but it also has a lot of mountainous area covered in rain forests. And yes there are elephants on the island. We did a lot of awesome stuff including sea kayaking, scuba diving, elephant trekking, checked out viewpoints, motorbiking, hiked to a waterfall, and ate some amazing food. Scuba diving was terrifying, but I'm glad I sucked it up and went. I might even go again someday, 'might' being the key word there. The elephant trekking was eventful to say the least. Roddy and I got paired up with a temperamental pregnant elephant for our hour ride, and she was not a happy camper. After almost tossing us off her back halfway through the ride, we made it back to the camp in one piece. Needless to say we had a bitter taste in our mouth about the establishment, and just as I was ready to call it quits the most magical thing happened to us. We got to swim in the ocean with the baby elephants. I'll repeat in case you missed it: WE GOT TO SWIM WITH BABY ELEPHANTS. The elephants loved the water, and genuinely looked happy to be splashing around. It was one of the those experiences that you know will be with you forever. The joy I felt in that moment was tremendous, and it made the trip that much more incredible.



2nd: Siem Reap, Cambodia

After saying good bye to Roddy, I spent two nights in Bangkok waiting to meet up with Tricia (my roommate and co-worker) to fly out to Cambodia together where we would meet up with Tim, Tricia's friend from college. We had a chill first night because we had planned to do sunrise at Angkor Wat which entailed a 4:00am wake up. Angkor Wat was first a Hindu, but is now a Buddhist temple complex. It's the largest religious monument in the world, and has over 200 temples within the entire compound. Angkor means city or capital city in Khmer (the national language of Cambodia) and Wat means temple. So, Angkor Wat = Temple City or City of Temples. Yeah, I actually listened to our tour guide at 5:30am. Side note: our tour guide's name was Shapira. Yes, just like Shakira but with a p. Needless to say, I was probably his least favorite client after the 5th time I sang 'My Hips Don't Lie' to him at 6:00am in the morning. Anyway, the sunrise was a little bit of a let down because it was cloudy on the day we decided to go, but that did not detract from the grandeur of this place. It's huge. Like really big. We spent hours and hours walking around to the more popular temples on the grounds. The most of the temples are partially over grown, and there was a kind of magic in the way the earth had claimed certain parts of the temples and left other parts untouched. All of the temples had a different story. It was a wonderful day. The next day in Siem Reap the three of us booked a tour that included a bicycle tour through a small Khmer village and then a boat tour through one of the local floating villages outside of Siem Reap. It was also a really cool experience. Our tour guide was a young guy who was hoping to go study English in Europe when he can get the funds. It was really awesome to get to know him, and get a up close and personal view into the Cambodian villages. On the bicycle tour we got ambushed by a group of Khmer village children that thought my Nikon camera was maybe the coolest thing ever. I let them take it and see what they could do with it...which led to 280 pictures of mostly the ground and sky, but it also gave me some memories that I will never forget. On the whole, I loved Cambodia, and I regret that I only got to spend 4 days there, and only got to see Siem Reap. I hope to go back some day and spend more time.












3rd: Bangkok & Krabi, Thailand
I arrived back in Bangkok and waited for my second friend from back home, Ashlye, to arrive. I was so excited to see her, and get to have my bestie in Thailand for a week! Once she landed we spent 3 days in Bangkok doing the typical Bangkok tourist gig. We hit the Grand Palace and temples, we took a tour to one of the floating markets, and of course we went to the insanely huge western style malls because Ash needed a pedicure haha. We spent a night on Khao San Road (which is the crazy/anything goes street they featured in The Hangover 2) which was a lot of fun. There is never a dull moment on that road between the people eating scorpions and spiders to the crazy loud dance parties in the middle of the street. It's a prime location for people watching to say the least. We also spent a night at the rooftop bar, and had a much more classy time. After a few days in Bangkok we flew down to Krabi. It's not an island, but it is located very close to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. We stayed on Railay Beach which you have to take a boat to get to. Before Ash came out she messaged me saying, "I think we are going to have to walk out into the water to get into a boat taxi with all our luggage." I thought she was just being dramatic, but sure as day when we pulled up we had to wade out to the boat with our full bags. Ha Ha. There are some funny pictures of that adventure, but it was all worth it. Railay beach is spectacular. The water was a perfect bright teal blue-ish green, and the limestone cliffs are breathtaking. It was one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life time. We stayed right on the beach and had the most amazing time. We spend an afternoon kayaking, which we are pretty darn good at. Just saying. We also attempted to reach a lagoon inside the rain forest before we encounter some of the most intense rock climbing I had ever attempted. It was scary. One of the days we rode and swam with elephants, I am telling you that I have never seen Ashlye so utterly happy as she was when she was in the water with Sow. Sow must be Ashlye's spirit animal because the connection was really, and it was such a great time. I loved the time we spent in Krabi the vibe was good, the views were out of this world, and the company was perfect.






Tuesday, September 16, 2014

#BecauseThailand

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for a month. I've gotten into a routine here in Nan. I easily forget that the things, I now find normal, are still not normal to my family and friends. Things like...riding a motorbike in the pouring rain to school at 7:00 am wrapped in a makeshift poncho trying to navigate market traffic, or getting taught a traditional Thai dance by co-workers that we will be performing in front of a retirement party (because nothing is more entertaining than watching foreigners make a fool of themselves), or that one of the classrooms in my school caught on fire overnight last week due to electrical malfunction. All those things still blow my mind and make me laugh when I write them down, but they have all become a part of my daily life. They don't phase me. I've officially adopted the hash-tag "#becauseThailand" as my new reasoning for most things that happen in this country. There are numerous things that have happened while I've been there, and there's just no other way to explain why or how they happened other than saying, "because we're in Thailand that's why". I love it, most of the time at least.

For fun, here's a list of a few of the random things that have happened in my life in the last month...#becauseThailand:


  1. I have been called "Godzilla" by one of the cutest and innocent little boys in the world, so who could get too mad at that right?... 
  2. I have successfully learned how to use a "squat toilet", if you consider successful still getting a little on your feet every time. 
  3. I have met some of the most genuinely kind people. The type of people who will drop everything they are doing to fix your flat tire, even though they don't speak a bit of English.
  4. I have had every single Eagles song sang to me by random Thai people at every time of day. Along with the butchered Thai version of Hotel California usually comes the phrase, "America music! America song! You like?"... as if the Eagles embody the entire American music scene. I usually answer, "Yes, I love the Eagles." lol.
  5. I have started to use '555' in the place of 'hahaha' when typing to my friends out here in Thailand. The word for 5/five in Thai is actually pronounced 'ha' so 555, when said in Thai sounds like ha ha ha. Clever eh?
  6. I have learned how to guilt a student into feeling bad for inappropriate behavior without having to speak a single word. Which is helpful, because most of the time the badly behaved students don't understand English or my broken Thai all that well. 
  7. I have overused the word 'Hello' in the best way possible. Almost every student at school will give me a "Hello Teachaa" when passing by. So on an average school day I probably say Hello to 50+ people. How great is that? Think about all the people we pass daily in America, and never take the .5 seconds it takes to give that person a simple greeting. "Hello". Try it, it's a wonderful thing.
  8.  I tried some ahh-mazing food, and some not so great food (i.e. Durian). Fun fact: as it turns out, putting coconut in anything makes it much better. 
  9. I have missed my family and friends every day, but I have adopted a wonderful group of friends out here that are becoming my second family. I am so thankful for them and their craziness, don't know what'd I'd do without them. 
  10. The most important thing that has happened in my life #becauseThailand thus far, is the amount of growth I have had in my relationship with God, and my faith. Living out here has shown me how far God's love and impact reaches. This place, this culture, these people are all beyond beautiful, and I am just in awe daily of how blessed I am to be here. I'm only about halfway, but I can't imagine what else is in store for my time here. 
So, that is just a short list of all the funny stories and generous experiences I have had here, recently but it gives you a quick glimpse into my crazy awesome Thai life. Life is great. God is good. And until next post keep the good vibes rolling. :)







Sunday, August 10, 2014

Rolling right along

I've been in Thailand for 3 months now. I honestly can't believe it. I still have moments of "Omg, I live in Thailand", but they are becoming fewer and far between. I have come to love my city, and if you have read any of my other blog posts, or if you follow me on any social media site you know how in love with my students I am. Speaking of students.. because school is where I spend a majority of my time, that's what most of my updates on this blog post are going to be about! So here we go..

First up, SPORTS DAY(s)! If you really know me then you know how excited I was for this, and the first day was great. We have some very talented athletes at our school! I got to watch all the different teams compete in volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, and soccer. But what happened on the second day was something I couldn't have been ready for even if I was repeatedly warned. So quick clarification- Sports Day is a two day long event. The first day is held at the school, and is comprised of all the team sports playing each other in bracket tournaments. The second day is held at Nan professional soccer stadium, and the students compete in individual track events and cheer leading. When you read the words "cheer leading" try to forget every preconceived notion you ever had about the sport of cheer leading. Something was lost in translation between the American style of cheer leading, and Thai style. I can't vouch for which is the correct way, all I can say is they are astronomically different. If there was an entry for "Thai cheer leading" in the dictionary it would look something like this...

  • Thai cheer leading: a sport found in Thai high schools similar to dancing, that includes borderline exotic dancing choreography to numerous well known American pop songs 
  • Thai cheer leading dress: inappropriate costumes for anyone under the age of 18; including 5 inch platform heels, corsets, fishnet stockings, glitter, and hair extensions
Curious yet? My portrayal of the event will barely do it justice, but I will give it a go nonetheless. The cheer squads were comprised of around 4-6 girls and 4-6 guys. All of the cheer leaders were high school aged students, so between 14-17 years of age. They all had matching revealing costumes, even the boys. Their "routines" were choreographed dances to songs like "Come & Get It" by Selena Gomez or "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry. Before I go on, I want to give credit where credit is due. These students spent an insane amount of their free time and money to create these elaborate routines, and it showed. They created masterpieces. That being said, it was one of the most uncomfortable experiences I have had in a very long time. I witnessed these young innocent girls and boys that I teach, for lack of a better term, grind on the ground and on each other, and pulling moves that I hope my future daughter never learns. All in front of the entire school and town, parents and teachers included. I was mind blown, and so mortified that naturally I took numerous videos and pictures. Here is a little taste of what I witnessed during Sports Day...











Now that I've undoubtedly skewed your opinion on my students, my school, and the Thai education system, I want to share with you my ASEAN Day experience. ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Day is a full day long event where the Social Studies department at our school coordinates a school fair of sorts. Each of the 10 ASEAN nations had a both that was manned by participating high schools from around the Nan region. Some of the other large nations of the world were included as well: China showed up, India showed it's face, and I think Canada made it to the party too. Naturally, my school's booth was the United States of America. Who knows why. There are some questions that just simply do not have answers. But it was beyond awesome seeing how a group of people who have never been there represented America. The faculty members working the America booth all wore flannel shirts, cowboy hats, and cowboy boots. My fellow teachers were shocked when I told them I didn't own any flannel or cowboy boots so unfortunately I wouldn't be able to match them. Our face-in-a-hole cut out was a nice Native American couple. The booth made American food: chocolate brownies, caramel popcorn, and deep friend mashed potatoes. The brownies were phenomenal, but the fried mashed potatoes was weird. Just weird. Best part of the day was what I like to call "put the Americans on display show". Because there are four American English teachers, myself included, at Srisawat we were told we must sing for ASEAN Day! And "I don't sing" wasn't a viable get out of jail free card. We were given three songs to sing by the social studies teacher. In his mind these songs best represent America- "Country Roads" by John Denver, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by CCR, and "Why Do I love You So?" by someone I don't know. I have very mixed emotions on the idea that these three songs represent America to a decent amount of northern Thailand. We got to pick one of our own songs to sing so of course we went with my girl T. Swift "Love Story". Taylor Swift is really popular among our students so it was a safe bet. So, we sat like good little American's and sang the songs of our homeland while our students and co-workers watched. Overall, the day was great. Whether they were right or wrong, it was interesting to see the tables flipped, and see how people of another land view my home.




I'm gonna end this blogpost with one little totally random piece of advice to everyone: Travel. Just do it. Travel anywhere, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you will be accumulating experiences. You'll gain knowledge you couldn't while staying at home. You'll witness indescribable moments. You'll have interactions that will deepen your faith in humanity. I can't tell you how many beautiful things I have seen since coming here, but the biggest thing I've learned so far is that people are good. Everywhere. "Life is short, God is big." - Louie Giglio. Until next time let the good vibes roll...

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Two Cool Cities: Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai

There really aren't words for how awesome the past two weekends have been, but here goes nothing... I'll start with my Chiang Mai trip that I took the July 4th weekend. So, Chiang Mai is the second biggest city in Thailand, second only to Bangkok. Tricia(my roommate) and I left after school on Friday the 4th, and it's around a 5 and 1/2 hour bus ride from Nan to Chiang Mai. We got into Chiang Mai late, so naturally we headed straight to McDonalds. I figured if I couldn't be in the States to celebrate the 4th then I might as well do the most American thing I could do while in Thailand. It was totally worth it. Saturday we got a group together to go head out to the Mae Sa Waterfall and Wat Doi Suthep. Our group was comprised of 3 Americans, 2 Europeans, and 2 Thais, great dynamics to say the least. The first stop was the Mae Sa Waterfall which has been one of my favorite waterfalls I've been to since coming to Thailand. Despite the baby leeches that a few of the group members found on their legs, the waterfall was perfect. Next stop was Wat Doi Suthep. A quick sidebar to for a necessary explanation: Wat means temple in Thai, and Doi means mountain. Basically Wat Doi Suthep is a temple on a mountain. A pretty large mountain. The temple itself is magnificent, and it is situated perfectly so it has a breathtaking view of the city of Chiang Mai. We ended the day with some drinks and dancing at a well known local spot in downtown Chiang Mai with the group. I fell in love with Chiang Mai that weekend. I would consider it the "Atlanta" of Thailand. Even though it's a large city, people are still kind, and not too pushy, unlike Bangkok. 
I can't wait to go back :)






Then there was Chiang Rai. This past weekend was a 4 day weekend because of the holiday of Buddhist Lent. So, we got a group of girls that all teach English in Nan together and got on the road for Chiang Rai Friday morning. The bus ride from Nan to Chiang Rai is about the same length as the Chiang Mai bus ride, but that is the only thing that is similar. The bus ride from Nan to Chiang Rai is straight through the mountains in northern Thailand. Let's just say it's not for the faint of heart. For the first night we planned ahead and booked a large room for our entire group to stay in at the Akha Hill House. The Akha Tribe is an old hilltribe that has lived in the northern region of Thailand for many generations. We stayed about an hour outside of the city in the Akha village. We slept in a room with 7 mattresses laid on the floor, so of course it pretty much became a giant sleep over. You know how girls work. When we woke up we had half of the day Saturday to explore the hills around the village before we headed back into town. As we were exploring we found another waterfall, and this one was big! It was impressive and gorgeous. After getting our share of nature in we headed back to the city for the remaining two nights. Saturday night we went to the walking street and night bizarre, which are large night markets where you can find anything from cheap food to beautiful Thai silk scarves to brand new tupperware sets. Sunday was by far my favorite day of the entire trip. Ever heard of an "open tour"? Well, they're awesome. Instead of being tied down to the structure of a typical tour with a tour guide spilling out facts left and right, we were driven to the desired destinations and given a limited amount of time to explore on our own. It really was awesome. Our tour destinations included: The Black House, a Monkey Temple, the Mae Sai border market/ the Northern most point in Thailand, The Golden Triangle, and the House of Opium museum. My personal favorite was the Golden Triangle. It is a spot where you are standing on Thai soil but you are able to see into Myanmar and Laos. It's 3 countries in one picture. It might just be my weird love of geography, but it was totally mind blowing. I'm still a little sad be back in Nan, but work calls. I had a wonderful time in both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and I'm glad I have some pictures so I can share the moments with all of you. Until next time :) Good vibes y'all! 








Monday, June 30, 2014

With a heavy heart

Yesterday marked one of the best and worst days I have had in Thailand thus far. I found a church that felt like coming home to me, and I also received news that Phillip Lutzenkirchen passed away. I am beyond relieved to have found a place of worship that is as inspiring and energetic as Nan Christian Church is, but I am burdened with a heavy heart over the loss of Phillip and for the grieving of the Lutzenkirchen family. I am struggling to understand how two such extreme experiences can exist within the same day. There is nothing more I want at this moment then to put my arms around my family. Even though, it is easy to get fixated on the sadness in moments like this, I know that moving forward is the only choice anyone ever has. I know God has put me in this place for a reason, and finding a church that allows me to share my faith is comforting. I thank God for a new church home, and I thank God for the impact Phillip Lutzenkirchen left on this world. Heaven gained one amazing angel. 

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38-39

 Nan Christian Church, Thailand 
Phillip Lutzenkirchen 1991-2014

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Meet and Greet

This post is dedicated to my students here in Thailand. Like I have mentioned previously, I only see a majority of my classes once a week, and I have a total of 19 classes. That's a total of approximately 450 students I see in one week, compared to a typical 150-200 students an American teacher has per year. So, I have a ton of students. Minus the typical handful of problem students, these kids are beyond awesome. Here are a few of the highlights of my one and half month of teaching these rascals so far:

  • Their nick names. Obviously the full Thai names are just too outrageous and impossible to pronounce, therefore, every Thai student has a "nick name". I am still unsure of where their nick names come from. I have heard that they is given to them by their parents when they are young, but some of these names are so cruel/hilarious to be given by a parent. So the verdict is still out on the origins of the nick names. The nick names are typically just random English words with a few random traditional Thai sounds mixed in. Here are the best names from my group of students: Cake, Poo, Pee, Big Boss, Upgrade, Beer, Arm, Champ, Bootzii, Chomper, Captain, Not, Stang, Ask, F, Q.....you get the picture. These are the names I get to call my students without any chance of  repercussions for my actions. And that's awesome.
  • I hear at least once a day "Ohhhh, Teachaa beautiful", which will always put a smile on your face. These kids are the best at complimenting. BUT the intended meaning of some compliments often get lost in translation. For example, I have also had a student say straight to my face, in a completely excited and genuine tone, "Teachaa tall, like Godzilla!". So yeah, there's a lot of miss communication going on.
  • Wai Kru Day (Teacher appreciation Day) was an awesome experience. It's a day where the students show their appreciation to the teachers by creating these elaborate flower arrangements and presenting them on stage to each individual teacher. It is unlike anything that takes place in the United States. It is a real testament to how highly Thai people view the teaching profession. 
  •  PICTURES. These kids, not unlike American kids, are obsessed with pictures. If there is any downtime in class or between classes there are pictures being taken. It actually works out well for me, because it seems I love pictures just as much! haha. I have captured some unbelievably beautiful moments with these kids so far. Here are a few of my favorite student shots I've taken at school...











Needless to say, my students are the bomb, and I'm enjoying getting to work with them everyday. It is definitely a challenge dealing with the communication barrier, but it is turning me into such a better teacher already. I am excited to see what the rest of my time with these crazies will bring. Good vibes are flowing out here for sure! Until next time..