สิ่งใหม่ - Something New

Right now it is pouring rain outside. We are in our room and can hear drops hitting every surface of our school. It is loud but yet peaceful, and we don't mind because it cools everything down, which is new for us. We are here during the rainy season; every night is a thunderstorm with lightning and some of the loudest thunder you have ever heard but it makes everything green, as you can see:

We not only see green everywhere but these mini temples or relics everywhere. Tang told us that when you enter a home you greet the little temple by saying, "Sawadeeka" and bowing. She also told us that they are a mix of Buddhism and Hinduism. She said the larger one represents Buddha and the smaller one represent the home's ancestors. We are constantly learning new things about the culture here, I love it. They are often decorated with ribbons or other forms of offering like flowers... and sometimes even Fanta bottles. I don't know much about them but they are beautiful, and everywhere! 

These are outside our school.

This last relic is outside our favorite drink shop and around the corner of a salon where we had our celebratory pedicures for less than three dollars! We had made it through our first day of teaching, and we decided to do something special! It was my first time, and a new experience but it was fun, the salon was interesting, let's just say that when waiting for two hours looking around a shop in Phichit that it doesn't make you feel more relaxed, especially the yellow duct tape holding everything to the walls. On the other hand, the ladies were extremely nice!! They made us feel as comfortable as possible! They took their time with each of us and were very appreciative of the business we gave them. Entertaining Thai music videos in the background combined with these ladies were the perfect way for us to celebrate! 

เมือง - The Town

So we have been going to town a lot lately. Tang has provided us with bikes, and even though one is broken and we have to have two people riding on one we have been utilizing them everyday. Phichit is only about 10 minutes away and even though it is small it is bigger than I expected. But everyone knows who we are and everyone waves and says hello. And they really say "Hello" in English which is exciting! There is one man who we always see walking next to the roundabout. He lives under an archway around there. We haven't decided on what to call him, but he is so sweet! He always has such a huge smile on his face and waves at each of us (as in raises his hand and the lowers it individually at each one of us). He walks with a limp and is extremely impoverished but has one of the most humble and genuine demeanors of anyone I have ever met. This man in not supposed to function as an introduction to today's post but a symbol of the beautiful people we have the pleasure to meet every day here in Phichit, Thailand.

Us on our bikes in a park.

First, the drive to town.

A woman sorting through trash to sell.

These are only two of the many common scenes that we see as we ride our bikes to town. The people just look, smile and wave and by this I am reminded of how lucky we are to have AC, even if it is only at night. These people live this life every day not only in the day time, and not only for four months. I thought I had seen poverty until I came here. It is so different when it is right next to you instead of  on a TV screen. Tang was not exaggerating when she told us that we will be like celebrities here and that it is so safe and the people are incredibly nice. 

Second, town park.

So Phichit is well-known for a Thai legend that includes an Alligator creature that becomes human when he is underwater and lives in a large underwater city. This alligator man one day kidnapped a millionaire's two daughters to be his wives and the millionaire offered a reward for the rescue of his daughters and the reward was one of his daughter's hand in marriage. One man saved the daughters and married one, and they lived happily ever after. This story is the source of alligators being the theme of Phichit. They are everywhere around the town and right when you enter town there is a park that seems to be dedicated to alligators. Here are some shots.

This is what we call "the crocodile pit." This is right out of town with a pier that goes onto the little lake seen in the pictures above. There is an over-water walkway that you can walk on (with a high fence, don't worry mom) and before you get on that you can buy some raw meat to throw at the alligators. They were a little scary, but hardly ever moved while we were there. 

Third, Tesco. 

Tesco is the local grocery store. It reminds me of a very small Wal Mart: has a little of everything. We get about everything we need there, and a lot of the supplies around the school is branded with the "Tesco" label. We were pretty entertained by this shirt, and I'm sure it is only one grammatical error of many that we'll see in Asia but this is what we found:

Fourth, shops around town.

This is our favorite place. It is a drink shop and we have gone there almost every day 

since we have been here. They have everything from coffee to milk shakes, and everything 

we have tried has been SO good!! The owner speaks English and is very nice! 

The drinks are one dollar or less and pretty big. 

Fifth, the market.

Today was our first day going to the market. It was an experience to say the least. They had everything from shoes, to raw meat and fish. The people who ran each stand were there all day long. Each stand had a TV, radio, or something to keep them entertained. They were all very interested in us as well. They would make sure that we knew they were ready for any prices if we were to ask. It was incredible to realize that that market was their daily life and some of us couldn't even take the smell for a few minutes. It truly was another testament to the simple but happy lives of these people. I absolutely loved it. 

More pictures of the town of Phichit to come. This was simply a mere introduction but I hope that it added to the picture you have in your mind; the picture we are privileged to live for four months. 

โรงเรียน - The School

Today is Satuday, and I have been asking the other teachers what day it is because it has been hard to keep track. But today is Saturday and we have a BBQ tonight!! So, ILP has teachers (me), head teachers (supervising teachers) and native coordinators (Natives to the county who hire ILP for their schools). Our native coordinator is Tang, and she is wonderful. She is a native Thai but went to school in England when she was nine. She speaks English flawlessly and has an English accent which we all love. Here is a picture with her and some of the kids (we'll talk about their outfits later).

My class (the oldest class)

Tang has helped us so much, her family has adopted us teachers into their family and we go to their house for the BBQ tonight. Now you have a face to put to the name. So the school. It is a fairly new bilingual school here in the small town of Phichit. Tang grew up here and I think she just didn't want to leave, and after being here for a few days I can understand why. She is a civil engineer and when this school began it was nothing more than a nursery. But Tang's boyfriend at the time (now husband) had heard about ILP when he was studying at BYU. Tang knew that ILP's teaching method was for her and she has been taking care of American teachers like myself ever since. There are four classes as of now, but hopefully they will grow (Pre-K, K1, K2, and K3). Here is what our school looks like, Tang said that hogwarts was her inspiration and I think that it shows. 

It is a beautiful building and we live in the second floor. We have ladies that cook and clean for us and they are constantly smiling! The food is cooked from the fresh garden daily and has been nothing but delicious so far!! There are five teachers and here is our room complete with AC and microwave. 

We were surprised by our students yesterday who came into our room saying, "Teacher, teacher!" We have met the students already even though we don't start teaching until Monday, Tang introduced us and we have played with them after school as they wait to be picked up. The kids were all dressed up and we soon found our from Tang that they were presenting today on an assigned country in Asia and were dressed up in their country's traditional dress. They looked beautiful and we were able to watch some of the presentations as well as play with them. Here are a few shots of them. 

Mhew

Moo Pee

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Some of the kids who knocked on our door.

This is MeMe. She and many of the other girls wore Disney princess 

dress-up shoes, you can kind of seem them in this picture. So cute!!

Just a shot that shows some of the teachers dressed up as well as some of the kids parents. 

This is just the kids cooling off in front of the fan and being wild; they are too much fun! 

I can't wait to start teaching them!! They are extremely smart! One boy I met, his name is Fei-Fei is only around 5 years old and already learning basic multiplication. They speak English pretty well, but it will be fun to see them in the classroom setting! 

ที่นี่ - Here

Here I am. Sitting in my room in Thailand after meeting all the students. It has been a very long past few days but we are here. The word "here" has always meant the United States, and sometimes Canada, but now, for the first time and hopefully not the last, "here" means something completely foreign. Asia: a romantic place I have dreamed of since my family had our first exchange student. Asia: I place that has enchanted me since I saw my first anime film. "Here" my temporary home is Thailand. And I am not only in the place I have dreamed of but I am fulfilling the role I played most as a young child: A teacher. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was young and now I truly am "Teacher Jessi."

We boarded our first plane, to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City on Monday, August 20th at 3:00. After this 45min flight we had a layover in Vegas for seven hours. We attempted to visit the strip but failed when we realized we could not get our boarding pass until two hours before take off to Seoul Korea. We made phone calls, met up with the other two teachers, and got to know each other a little. Once we boarded the plane to Korea, it hit me. I was moving to Thailand. I was the minority on this flight and saw just as much Korean around me as I did English. The plane was VERY nice, the biggest I had ever been on. The flight was thirteen hours long, but we were so pampered that it went by fast for me. We were given two meals, drinks, a miniature toothbrush, hot towel, headphones, wet wipe and the best service I had ever received on an airplane. These are what the flight attendants looked like, and they were the cutest girls ever.

The flight was long, and a little uncomfortable but I watched multiple movies and slept a lot, since we boarded around 11pm. Once we landed, we were in Korea! It was 4am but it was the next day. We entirely skipped August 21nd, it was the 20th when we took off in Vegas and August 22nd when we landed. At this point we had a 13 hour layover a head of us, so as soon as we, a long with the airport woke up, we located breakfast (after a long search for anything other than coffee or Korean food) and the information desk to look into a tour. We talked to an adorable Korean who went by Rachel. She took us on a five hour tour of Seoul, were we saw the Cheonggyecheon stream, in the heart of the city, the Gyeongbokgung palace, Insadong market and an authentic Korean restaurant. Rachel was adorable, and very helpful. Here are a few shots of the tour. 

Cheonggyecheon stream

This a symbol of Seoul, his name is Haechi, he represents justice, safety and happiness. 

Next was the Palace, dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. 

The entire group with our cute tour guide Rachel.

Inside the palace 

Rachel made fun of us a little, but we couldn't help ourselves. We were so American and everyone seemed to notice, but it was a little refreshing to be the minority for once. 

Next was the Insadong market and lunch.

Right outside the restaurant we ate at.

After our tour we boarded our plane with Korean Air again and prepared for a five hour flight to Bangkok. We were finally going to be in Thailand! All of us six slept the entire flight, it was the shortest flight yet. After being taken care of so well by the flight attendants, and having them be all we saw for the past 18 hours I did not expect service that surpassed their's but our driver proved me wrong. 

We still do not know his name, but he was the first Thai person I had ever met and I don't think I'll ever forget him. He was young, around thirty years old and hardly spoke any English. He wore sandals, jeans and an Angry Birds shirt (Which is VERY popular here, a lot of the children we met today had Angry Birds backpacks, shirts, binders. You name it.)  He greeted us, holding and ILP sign and led us to the street, smiling the entire time. We waited and he came around with a very large van and he did not let any of us help to lift our 50 pound bags (which we each had two of, a total of 600 pounds, not counting our carry ons). We piled into the van and drove off. I sat in the passenger seat and I could hear him huffing and puffing as we drove into Bangkok. I assume he heard that Americans struggle with the heat and humidity because he blasted the air the entire five hour drive. We made a quick stop at a gas station about an hour into our last stretch of travelling. Our driver kindly said "Toilet?" (Which is what Rachel our tour guide would say. Here in Asia all the restroom signs say "Toilet" and every time I see it I can't help but laugh a little). After a quick break we hurried on. I occasionally woke up but mostly slept. The first time I woke up it was to our driver pulling into another gas station, but it wasn't to fill up. He got out and walked to my door and gently tapped on my window; he could tell I was awake. I opened my door and he simply showed me how to recline my chair. My head must have been bobbing because he went back to his seat and we drove off. It was such a kind thought. I had never experienced anything like that from a stranger before. The next time I woke up it was to the van bumping along a dirt road. Our driver was going extremely slow through the rough patches so he wouldn't wake us. It was very sweet. The last time I woke up I saw a sign that said "Phichit 17." After that I could not sleep. I just stared at shacks outside my window. I had never seen such poverty, but it was so peaceful that late at night. We arrived in Phichit shortly and the different was very apparent. I could tell that we were in a town and that we were getting close. We were greeted at the school by some of the guards and a teacher to help us find our room. All were very polite and caring. The driver slipped away with a mere "Thank you" from us. 

We were shown to our room while we carried our bags up the stairs. I had overlooked the beauty of the school due to the darkness as well as my jet lag, but we all agreed that our room was much nicer than we expected. It was perfectly clean and and very nice. We got a little situated, took showers and went straight to bed around 4am, Thailand time. The next morning we unpacked and ran into some of the children who ran to the windows of their classrooms to yell "teacher!!" they were so beautiful, we all thought we were going to cry. We met with Tang (Our boss, native coordinator) and also met the children. We then went to town with Tang. She is a young Thai woman and the school we work at is owned and ran by her. She is a civil engineer who went to school in England and speaks with and English accent, we all love it. She is very well known in the town and very accommodating to us. She took us out for drinks (milk shakes, smoothies, soda) downtown, and then to her father's clinic to meet her family. We met Tom, her brother and her parents. They were all so nice! We visited with them until some of us were falling asleep on their couch and we then returned home to sleep. Tomorrow we will explore downtown and have a BBQ with Tang and her family. They said that they are now our temporary family, we even call them "mom" and "dad." I am in love with Thailand already and it has been only 24 hours. I love the smell, the food, the children and the spirit of hospitality. It truly has been an adventure and it just began. 

A special thanks to my family and all of those who have supported me! That may be taken me to make my many purchases, donated to a great cause like ILP in my name or simply wished me luck, I am extremely appreciative of you all!! And also a thank you to Charlotte, one of the other teachers, for taking these pictures for me, since my camera was in my checked luggage,