Thursday, July 25, 2013

Things I didn't learn in B School

When I was young, people always used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up (actually, I'm starting to get that question again). In high school, it was the same question, but the answer seemed more important. My parents are both teachers as is my uncle and my grandfather is retired university professor. I constantly got, "So you think you want to be a teacher?" To which I rapidly replied, "No, someone in this family needs to make some money!" I had no interest in teaching and if was ever going to teach, it was going to be after earning a Ph.D. so that I could teach at the collegiate level. "Kids are brats. I'm a good kid and I'm a brat. I wouldn't want to put up with me everyday!"

Teaching  English to kindergarten and first grade students in Thailand clearly wasn't what I had in mind when I attended the Kelley School of Business (KBS). But sometimes God just like to laugh at us, so here I am. In the less than two months that I've been here, it's become blatantly obvious that KBS did not prepare me for everything. (Arguably, they probably didn't think they needed to prepare me for these things as my "office" isn't quite the typical office environment) I find myself laughing at these moments pretty regularly and hope they are amusing to you as well.


1. I never thought after graduating from B School that I would start my day by pulling clay out of child's ear... clay that they didn't seem to even realize was there and that I just happened to notice because I was sitting next to them.
2. Watching a child strip down to his underwear and start dancing Gangnam style is far more exciting that any breaking 3 quarter records.
3. Starting the day with dancing or singing is highly encouraged in my "office", bonus points if you incorporate both.
4. Counting to 10 is a breeze, recognizing those numbers at random, not so easy. The same applies to the alphabet.
5. Repeating yourself is not only encouraged, it's necessary, always. (I want someone to sit in my classroom one day and count the number of time I say, "Sit down please.")
6. Need an incentive for your minions? Bonus packages out.... High fives in!
7. After lunch, brush your teeth and take a nap!
8. Hair braiding. This class wasn't even offered!!
9. At the end of the day, it's always good to spend some time playing with Legos.
10. Victories are counted by the number full sentences used, not the number of dollars earned.
11. KBS did teach me to budget for dry cleaning. They never mentioned it would be because their was clay ground into my favorite dress pants.
12. And probably the most important thing I learned, not while earning a degree, but from my Kindergarteners... Sometimes in accidents happen - and then you change your pants.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Weekend fun!

Ok I'm just too lazy to keep typing the big long titles. You guys get that I'm in Thailand, right? I've covered getting here, and bits about transportation, work, and my living environment, all of which I'm sure will be covered more extensively later. Apparently my combination of blog posts and Facebook posts has some people a little concerned. So let me start this post by saying. All is good!!! There are moments where I think, life was sooooo much easier and nicer in CR, and it was (let's be honest, I got it good there! And CR people - yes, that means I'm probably coming back sooner rather than later - though I do have a contract to finish!) But I didn't come here because I thought it was going to be easy. Most of the people who read this blog should know me well enough to know that, easy isn't really how I roll. Thailand has its challenges, but it's still freakin' Thailand!! In an effort to calm some nerves, and continue sharing my awesome adventure, I present you with Weekend Fun!

I've been here over a month and haven't had two weekends that were really even remotely similar. There's a great group of four girls, Kiki, Fums, Oyoyoy and myself, right here in the Pathum Thani (PT). It's not unusual for some, or all of this group, to get together on the weekends, or even one night during the week. One weekend Kiki and I had plans for a low key evening of dinner and a couple drinks at a restaurant just down the road from our apartment... hours later they were kicking us out of our private Karaoke suite because it was closing time. (Had we but known, we could have sung Closing Time before we left).

Kiki belts it out!

On two separate weekends, I ventured into Bangkok for some fun. One night we met up with a rather large group of expats (mostly teachers) at a place that had half priced microbrews!! Score 1 for Thailand! CR... seriously, you've gotta get on this!!



The other weekend Fums and I met Keevs and headed to Bangkok's infamous Koh San Road. In CR we would have called this place Gringolandia and for all the bad reasons! Think dirty, grimy tourist trap with hotels, bars... actually, I'd rather not think about all the things that can be found there! Apart from having a great time with my lovely British mates, I also discovered that I can walk and eat Pad Thai with chopsticks at the same time. Totally worth the trip!

Still, I think the last two weekends have definitely been my favorite. Two weeks ago Fums, Keevs, Oyoyoy and I headed a little north to Ayutthaya to be tourists for the day. At only an hour or so bus ride away, I will definitely be returning here. There are TONS of temples, ruins and perhaps most impressive GIANT... I mean, gargantuanly giant Buddha statues. Check out the pics below. One of the Buddhas actually has men standing on it (they were re-draping him) which give you a little perspective as to just how big he is.



Finally, there's this past weekend. Several of us ventured to Koh Samet for a beach time celebration. Fums had her bday Saturday which seemed like a great excuse to soak up some sun. I may or may not have danced in the rain, boxed a guy in a bar, eaten prawns that still had their heads attached when they came, and splashed in the gorgeous Bay of Thailand. Oh and there might have been tequila shots... it was her birthday!!!



So see?!?! I'm having fun here. Everything is fine! Oh and for the moment, I've decided not to switch apartments (I'm just too bloody cheap!) but I change my mind about that decision almost daily! I've settle into a pretty decent routine with work and the gym. And I've decided that I don't think I can ever join a gym without a steam room again!

Monday, July 01, 2013

Adventures in Thailand Part 4: Getting Settled

I can't believe that in just a few days I will have officially been in Thailand for one month. Sometimes I swear I've been here a year and others it's like I just walked off the plane. Life is currently a bit crazy. When I first got here I was able to find an apartment right away. It took a little over a week to truly get settled in an I actually switched apartments (same building, just different floor) in that first week or two. The landlady and her son are both super and helpful. They got me a motorbike (moto - because I just can't call it a motorcycle, and a bike is something I power, not an engine... and it's what they call them in CR so it's kinda ingrained in me) to rent that was terrible and terrifying but then got me a good one which I love.

Last week I got incredibly sick. I'm still not really sure if it was food poisoning or some kind of flu. I went to school Monday morning with my stomach feeling not so great. I've actually come to expect this in the morning here as I assume my body is just getting used to the food and more specifically the spices. Usually it goes away pretty quickly and I'm good to go. This time it just seemed to be getting worse. By lunch I felt awful and asked if (since it was 11am and I didn't have another class until 1:30pm) I could go home and lay down and then I would come back for my 1:30pm class. I managed that and after school went home and went immediately to bed which is where I spent the next two days as well. I returned to school on Thursday, but I really wasn't feeling back to 100% until Saturday.

Other than being sick, I've very much fallen into a groove at school. The Thai teacher I have now continues to be fantastic and I feel like I can actually teach the kids. That is, of course, if they were ever actually in class. It seems at least once/week there is some kind of special activity. There was Teacher Appreciation Day (which I VERY much appreciated), some cultural day, Boy Scout somethingorother day, who knows what's next.

So now I feel nice and settled at school but it's looking like I'm going to end up moving apartments. When Kiki moved into our building they told her they would work on getting wifi there. I moved in under the same assumptions. After lots of talking to Kung (the landlady's son) and going back and forth with various internet providers (all of whom we have had to seek out and get info from because the landlady and Kung weren't actually doing anything) it seems we aren't going to be able to get internet. On top of that, after talking to some other friends, it seems we're paying quite a bit more for utilities than anyone else, which makes our super cheap place, not so great of a deal afterall.

I spent the entire day Sunday riding around on my moto just stopping in at different places asking about apartments. It's not like back home where all the places have websites and on every street corner there are free "Apartment Guides" that give you all kinds of information. No, you just have to go... and go... and go... and go.... and ask the same questions over and over and PRAY that someone at the apartment complex speaks enough English that you can get the info you need. In the end, I still haven't found anything, but there are couple that might work. I'm not excited about moving away from Kiki (who is not moving because she's only here for 3 more months and she's decided coping with the stupid AirCard for internet is tolerable for that long), but on the plus side I'll be moving closer to Fums and OyOyOy, and Fums will actually be here about as long as I will. (More on those lovely ladies later). Overall I'm still really loving it here, I'm just ready to actually be settled and start feeling like I really live here.

Labels: apartments, Pathum Thani, teaching, Thailand