Bought a bike. push pedal bike that is.
have been riding the bike on main streets. have almost died 5 times so far.
just joking. but, not really.
It's crazy... but I have been getting around a lot faster and getting a lot more exercise and it's only been one day! it takes 2 minutes to go to the market instead of an hour, so that's awesome.
we are sleeping in our new house this evening. we bought a brand new bed (it costed about 120$ for the top of the line kingsize bed). we still are lacking everything else that a house should have, but I think we'll make it through with our bare minimum.
We will still be popping in and out of Scott's (so long as he doesn't mind) to use his computer/washing machine etc and take care of sebastien from time to time to help him out, but we officially have our own place!!!! empty and bare, but it's a roof to keep us dry from the monsoon at least!! hehe
pay day tomorrow for us both. it's our first payday in thailand.
This week I Will take pictures of downtown surat thani, our new house/ street / the market we go to etc etc. to keep you posted. it has come to my attention that we haven't been keeping you visually satisfied with our life as it is in Thailand.
tah tah for now!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
ups and downs
thanks to Reffa for keeping our readers posted on everything.. I haven't been very good. hehehe
I am doing extra classes today and my other goals for the day are to buy a mattress for the new bed, and to buy a bike (just a push pedal) to get around town on.
I've decided against a motorbike ... it's just too dangerous. I might keep learning to drive Scott's little by little, but not to venture into the busy roads.
I'm very homesick this week.
I am feeling isolated in this town of non-english speakers.. and I can't help but think of Christmas Day when all of our friends and family are eating together and Reffa and I are working. I knew it was coming, and I knew I'd be sad but it doesn't change the fact that it's my very first Christmas without my family, without boxing day dinner, without even so much as a tree. =(
Mom and Dad aren't coming anymore either, so I can't even send home the presents that I've bought. I will try to send them by mail though (maybe that will be more fun for you anyways!! )
Don't worry... it will pass. I have these ups and downs of desperately missing home and being so overwhelmingly happy that I'm in Thailand that I'm tickled. It's a bit of an emotional roller coaster I suppose.
I often just want to hop in my car and go for a drive in the country though. I miss the freedom and independance that comes with a car. I really miss my craft supplies! hehehe I miss sweet brown bread (non existant here), I miss peanut butter, I miss KD, I miss my puppy very very very very much.
I love Thailand, but I love Canada too.
xox
I am doing extra classes today and my other goals for the day are to buy a mattress for the new bed, and to buy a bike (just a push pedal) to get around town on.
I've decided against a motorbike ... it's just too dangerous. I might keep learning to drive Scott's little by little, but not to venture into the busy roads.
I'm very homesick this week.
I am feeling isolated in this town of non-english speakers.. and I can't help but think of Christmas Day when all of our friends and family are eating together and Reffa and I are working. I knew it was coming, and I knew I'd be sad but it doesn't change the fact that it's my very first Christmas without my family, without boxing day dinner, without even so much as a tree. =(
Mom and Dad aren't coming anymore either, so I can't even send home the presents that I've bought. I will try to send them by mail though (maybe that will be more fun for you anyways!! )
Don't worry... it will pass. I have these ups and downs of desperately missing home and being so overwhelmingly happy that I'm in Thailand that I'm tickled. It's a bit of an emotional roller coaster I suppose.
I often just want to hop in my car and go for a drive in the country though. I miss the freedom and independance that comes with a car. I really miss my craft supplies! hehehe I miss sweet brown bread (non existant here), I miss peanut butter, I miss KD, I miss my puppy very very very very much.
I love Thailand, but I love Canada too.
xox
Not so good news...
Uncle Dave and Aunt Reta had to cancel their trip over to see us because the Bangkok airport is closed for a while. Both airports actually. The protesters invaded the airports and police have been sent in by the gov't to deal with it in a non-violent way.
The news said there may be a military coup tonight. The protesters just wont give it up.
They voted in a not-so-smart P.M. because he offered 1000 baht to any of them who vote for him, so all the poor people up in chiang mai voted for him and he got in, and now the thai people dont like him and are trying to over throw him.
Now all the thai people in places like Patong and Pattaya are suffering beacuse they arent making money off tourists during high season.
The king isnt getting involved right now, but basically all he has to do is say "leave the airport now" and they will listen to him. I dont think its that serious yet, or else he would be doing something by now. But that doesnt change the fact that the airport is CLOSED.
Now we dont get to see them!! :(
Jessica tried calling the hotel they booked to see if she could get a refund and the girl says she "doesnt know"
We're still going to go down to see all our friends, but it would have been really great to see them though! Jess said they are going to come back in the spring, and bring ERIN! which will be even better!!
Its just bad timing, thats all.
The news said there may be a military coup tonight. The protesters just wont give it up.
They voted in a not-so-smart P.M. because he offered 1000 baht to any of them who vote for him, so all the poor people up in chiang mai voted for him and he got in, and now the thai people dont like him and are trying to over throw him.
Now all the thai people in places like Patong and Pattaya are suffering beacuse they arent making money off tourists during high season.
The king isnt getting involved right now, but basically all he has to do is say "leave the airport now" and they will listen to him. I dont think its that serious yet, or else he would be doing something by now. But that doesnt change the fact that the airport is CLOSED.
Now we dont get to see them!! :(
Jessica tried calling the hotel they booked to see if she could get a refund and the girl says she "doesnt know"
We're still going to go down to see all our friends, but it would have been really great to see them though! Jess said they are going to come back in the spring, and bring ERIN! which will be even better!!
Its just bad timing, thats all.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The new House.
We arent going to put up pictures just yet, because its not homey yet.
but I will give details since a few of you asked.
Off the main road in Kuntale (khun-ta-lay) which is our neighbourhood, is where all the shops and markets are. There is a vegetable market open everyday until 10pm, there you can go and buy fresh veggies. Everything! (Bug Cucumbers, mini cucumbers, Carrots, Green Beans (and the green beans here are about as long as your arm!), mushrooms of every kind, lettuces, cabbages, onion, garlic, morning glory, tomatoes, jalapenos, chillis, string beans, papaya, etcc.) then there is a fruit stand thats a bit smaller , but it has all fresh fruits. No cherries though, cherries are very expensive here! You have to buy those at the grocery store for nearly 5 times the price back home!
Anyways, the market is about a 5-10 mintute walk up the road, so we can go there everyday and get fresh stuff.
And there is also little shops that do laundry, and hair salons, one massage place, motorbike repair shops, (the usuals) and then little corner shops that sell food.
Anyways, you turn down soi 16 (which is the 16th road in off the main road) and we have a big gate that can be locked with a little door, and the gate is about 9 feet tall.
All around the yard there is a tall concrete barrier like thing to seperate us from our neighbours. (which is good cause the lady next door to us is crazy!)
When you walk up its all covered concrete ground, and concrete stairs. theres a little corner by the stairs where you can put a little table to sit outside and keep out of the rain.
There is a bit of a garden, but not much. There is a mini wat temple ornament a little higher than the fence in the yard, its very beautiful.
When you go inside the house there is a big open living room area. off of that near the back door is the bathroom. The bathroom is very small with a shower hose and a toilet. The toilet doesnt flush. But there is a water basin beside it, and when you take your bucket of water to rise off after you use the washroom, the water goes down the drain. So it doesnt need a flusher, actually.
Thats about all thats in there, There is no sink either, But you can just wash your hands in the basin.
Um... After coming out of the bathroom you are in that big open area again, you can go out the back door which takes you all around both sides of the house, but theres not much back there except for lizzards and stuff.
Come back in that door and if you walk straight through the big room, there is another big room at the front of the house about the same size (so there is actually two living rooms)
Off of that, there are french doors that take you to the front deck. The front deck is made of porcelin, and all around it the legde is like a bench, so you can sit on that, rather than furniture. You can see onto the road from there and all of the house inside, except for the bedrooms.
There are 2 bedrooms, one is bigger than the other, but the bigger one only has one window, whereas the smaller one has two windows.
It came with a brand new King Size bed and a wardrobe with a tall mirror.
No mattress though, so we have to buy one before we sleep there.
And thats about it so far. Theres no kitchen. but we bought a basin to wash our veggies in (thai style!) and we are going to buy a little dresser thing to keep our dishes in. To wash the dishes we have another basin and a drying rack.
The rest we will have to save up for over time. But theres nothing that we NEED really besides each other and a roof over our heads. Which.....Check...and CHECK!
:)
pictures to come soon.
but I will give details since a few of you asked.
Off the main road in Kuntale (khun-ta-lay) which is our neighbourhood, is where all the shops and markets are. There is a vegetable market open everyday until 10pm, there you can go and buy fresh veggies. Everything! (Bug Cucumbers, mini cucumbers, Carrots, Green Beans (and the green beans here are about as long as your arm!), mushrooms of every kind, lettuces, cabbages, onion, garlic, morning glory, tomatoes, jalapenos, chillis, string beans, papaya, etcc.) then there is a fruit stand thats a bit smaller , but it has all fresh fruits. No cherries though, cherries are very expensive here! You have to buy those at the grocery store for nearly 5 times the price back home!
Anyways, the market is about a 5-10 mintute walk up the road, so we can go there everyday and get fresh stuff.
And there is also little shops that do laundry, and hair salons, one massage place, motorbike repair shops, (the usuals) and then little corner shops that sell food.
Anyways, you turn down soi 16 (which is the 16th road in off the main road) and we have a big gate that can be locked with a little door, and the gate is about 9 feet tall.
All around the yard there is a tall concrete barrier like thing to seperate us from our neighbours. (which is good cause the lady next door to us is crazy!)
When you walk up its all covered concrete ground, and concrete stairs. theres a little corner by the stairs where you can put a little table to sit outside and keep out of the rain.
There is a bit of a garden, but not much. There is a mini wat temple ornament a little higher than the fence in the yard, its very beautiful.
When you go inside the house there is a big open living room area. off of that near the back door is the bathroom. The bathroom is very small with a shower hose and a toilet. The toilet doesnt flush. But there is a water basin beside it, and when you take your bucket of water to rise off after you use the washroom, the water goes down the drain. So it doesnt need a flusher, actually.
Thats about all thats in there, There is no sink either, But you can just wash your hands in the basin.
Um... After coming out of the bathroom you are in that big open area again, you can go out the back door which takes you all around both sides of the house, but theres not much back there except for lizzards and stuff.
Come back in that door and if you walk straight through the big room, there is another big room at the front of the house about the same size (so there is actually two living rooms)
Off of that, there are french doors that take you to the front deck. The front deck is made of porcelin, and all around it the legde is like a bench, so you can sit on that, rather than furniture. You can see onto the road from there and all of the house inside, except for the bedrooms.
There are 2 bedrooms, one is bigger than the other, but the bigger one only has one window, whereas the smaller one has two windows.
It came with a brand new King Size bed and a wardrobe with a tall mirror.
No mattress though, so we have to buy one before we sleep there.
And thats about it so far. Theres no kitchen. but we bought a basin to wash our veggies in (thai style!) and we are going to buy a little dresser thing to keep our dishes in. To wash the dishes we have another basin and a drying rack.
The rest we will have to save up for over time. But theres nothing that we NEED really besides each other and a roof over our heads. Which.....Check...and CHECK!
:)
pictures to come soon.
กอ้วย
The Banana's (pro-nounced gloo-ai) are crazy here. They have pits in them! Like the size of watermelon seeds and the texture of a peach pit.
there is this great treat and what you do is you take a banana, some sticky rice and some coconut and mash it and put it inside a banana leaf, then roast it over a grill or steam it.
After it cools off, peel the banana leaf away and you have this golden sticky sweet chewey coconut/banana treat! DELICIOUS (a-roi maak maak!)
Thats how i discovered my first banana pit, actually. I was eating one of those as fast as I could and i bit down on one. Now i'm more careful
I am gonna find someone to teach us how to make them.
I will hold and grill them over a match if I have to, thats how good they are!
maybe we will bring some to Patong when we go see Aunt Reta and Uncle Dave!
there is this great treat and what you do is you take a banana, some sticky rice and some coconut and mash it and put it inside a banana leaf, then roast it over a grill or steam it.
After it cools off, peel the banana leaf away and you have this golden sticky sweet chewey coconut/banana treat! DELICIOUS (a-roi maak maak!)
Thats how i discovered my first banana pit, actually. I was eating one of those as fast as I could and i bit down on one. Now i'm more careful
I am gonna find someone to teach us how to make them.
I will hold and grill them over a match if I have to, thats how good they are!
maybe we will bring some to Patong when we go see Aunt Reta and Uncle Dave!
Survival Guide
Monsoon Season Survival Guide: Humidity Levels 96-98%
Laundry:
Only wash your clothes if necessary.
If you wash your clothes, hang them up indoors (because it's STILL raining outside)
wait about a week and a half for your clothes to be damp, rather than soaked.
If you are lucky enough to have a micowave, you can throw your clothes in (one article at a time) for 20 second intervals, until its damp, rather than soaked. But make sure that they dont have zippers or metal buttons!!
If you dont have a microwave, you can try and iron the water out of them. (It works, but looks really bad!!)
Bathroom:
Since there is no toilet paper, after spraying yourself or dumping a bucket of water on your bum, continue your day with wet underwear since nothing will air out with the himidity. (Or if you have time, throw them in the microwave or iron them)
Watch out to your left, because the toilet is bubbling and making monster noises, oh no, thats just the sewer flooding and starting to back up.
Transportation:
Shoes off. Parka on. Umbrellas out. Skirt preferred, or pull up your pants, and go.
Motorbikes and Bicycles go under a roof, they can't be driven until the rivers go away.
Food:
Bags of chips/crackers etc.. must be eaten indoors within 3 minutes or they will go soggy!!
Laundry:
Only wash your clothes if necessary.
If you wash your clothes, hang them up indoors (because it's STILL raining outside)
wait about a week and a half for your clothes to be damp, rather than soaked.
If you are lucky enough to have a micowave, you can throw your clothes in (one article at a time) for 20 second intervals, until its damp, rather than soaked. But make sure that they dont have zippers or metal buttons!!
If you dont have a microwave, you can try and iron the water out of them. (It works, but looks really bad!!)
Bathroom:
Since there is no toilet paper, after spraying yourself or dumping a bucket of water on your bum, continue your day with wet underwear since nothing will air out with the himidity. (Or if you have time, throw them in the microwave or iron them)
Watch out to your left, because the toilet is bubbling and making monster noises, oh no, thats just the sewer flooding and starting to back up.
Transportation:
Shoes off. Parka on. Umbrellas out. Skirt preferred, or pull up your pants, and go.
Motorbikes and Bicycles go under a roof, they can't be driven until the rivers go away.
Food:
Bags of chips/crackers etc.. must be eaten indoors within 3 minutes or they will go soggy!!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Getting settled
Phew that was a nice long post by Reffa!
So, like she said, we're both working now. My job got me off to a rough start!! I felt like crying day in and day out for a few days. It was realllllly difficult. Here's how it went down:
I went to school on my first day with no lesson plans because they told me that it was introduction day and I just had to say my name and wave at the kids and I would start on Tuesday. I arrived at school (Tessiban Saam) via tuktuk in the rain. The tuktuk went the long way around and I arrived at 8:29 and I Was to be there by 8:30 (even though I had been waiting for a tuktuk since 7:15 am and my school is only 20 minutes from where I'm staying)... I Was stressed the entire drive. So I get there and find the one person in the school who speaks a bit of English, she's the one who is supposed to give me an orientation, take care of me, make me feel comfortable etc. I find her and she says "hiee miee naamee jrin" which is actually "my name is jarin" so that's wha tI'm dealing with.
she takes me around for a bit and then points into a classroom and says "here intradu yoursel" and so I go in and say "hello class! " and they wave. I turn around and Jarin has left me to my own resources and doesn't return for one hour. so, I taught english ... :S:S:S it was so scary and I was mad about the lack of organization.
so then she comes to get me when class is done , and takes me to another classroom and I do the SAME THING!!!! I had to do it 3 times on my first day. Then inbetween classes she says "you can live here relac" (which means, while you're waiting for your classes you can stay in this room if you want) . then I have to track her down after an hour of doing nothing in this random room I'm in and I ask for some sort of schedule. She brings me one in thai which I (obviously) can't read and points to it and then makes a face and goes "ooooo that wrong" and scratches stuff out etc so i have a messy, incorrect, thai schedule taht I am to follow (Which , two weeks later I am STILL using.)
basically about a million more things like this happen, disorganized, thai, non-english events which confuse me, make me nervous, etc. plus they hand me a hitting stick to hit the students with if they're bad (which I just can't do... ) .
I sit there with the staff and they speak thai, all eyes on me, and i just hear "felong felong" every now and then (foreigner) . and then one will try to use their broken english to ask me my name etc. they are warm and accepting, but they can't speak english and my thai isn't that good yet!!
so anyways I came home just about in tears. the kids were cute, but so badly behaved!!!
I thought about packing up and going back to canada. they speak english there. but I decided to force myself into another day.
It got better and better after that. still confusing. even now I'm confused most of the time, but I'm taking on the thai attitude , "mai pen rai" (don't worry it'll be okay) . at the end of the day there's no need to be stresesd about work becaus eI'm there to teach english and I know how to speak english and so it's no problem .
I'm quite enjoying eahc day now! I'm practicing thai, my lessons are better and better and the students don't look at me like i'm an alien anymore. (well not as much anyways... )
my kids are even more amazed by me than reffas. at her private school there have been foreigners before. at my school I Think I might be the first one.
hahahaha. omg. it's quite an adventure. I'm very happy now !
I will post pictures of our house later on today.
miss you all LOTS
can't wait to see mom and dad in two short weeks :)
xox
So, like she said, we're both working now. My job got me off to a rough start!! I felt like crying day in and day out for a few days. It was realllllly difficult. Here's how it went down:
I went to school on my first day with no lesson plans because they told me that it was introduction day and I just had to say my name and wave at the kids and I would start on Tuesday. I arrived at school (Tessiban Saam) via tuktuk in the rain. The tuktuk went the long way around and I arrived at 8:29 and I Was to be there by 8:30 (even though I had been waiting for a tuktuk since 7:15 am and my school is only 20 minutes from where I'm staying)... I Was stressed the entire drive. So I get there and find the one person in the school who speaks a bit of English, she's the one who is supposed to give me an orientation, take care of me, make me feel comfortable etc. I find her and she says "hiee miee naamee jrin" which is actually "my name is jarin" so that's wha tI'm dealing with.
she takes me around for a bit and then points into a classroom and says "here intradu yoursel" and so I go in and say "hello class! " and they wave. I turn around and Jarin has left me to my own resources and doesn't return for one hour. so, I taught english ... :S:S:S it was so scary and I was mad about the lack of organization.
so then she comes to get me when class is done , and takes me to another classroom and I do the SAME THING!!!! I had to do it 3 times on my first day. Then inbetween classes she says "you can live here relac" (which means, while you're waiting for your classes you can stay in this room if you want) . then I have to track her down after an hour of doing nothing in this random room I'm in and I ask for some sort of schedule. She brings me one in thai which I (obviously) can't read and points to it and then makes a face and goes "ooooo that wrong" and scratches stuff out etc so i have a messy, incorrect, thai schedule taht I am to follow (Which , two weeks later I am STILL using.)
basically about a million more things like this happen, disorganized, thai, non-english events which confuse me, make me nervous, etc. plus they hand me a hitting stick to hit the students with if they're bad (which I just can't do... ) .
I sit there with the staff and they speak thai, all eyes on me, and i just hear "felong felong" every now and then (foreigner) . and then one will try to use their broken english to ask me my name etc. they are warm and accepting, but they can't speak english and my thai isn't that good yet!!
so anyways I came home just about in tears. the kids were cute, but so badly behaved!!!
I thought about packing up and going back to canada. they speak english there. but I decided to force myself into another day.
It got better and better after that. still confusing. even now I'm confused most of the time, but I'm taking on the thai attitude , "mai pen rai" (don't worry it'll be okay) . at the end of the day there's no need to be stresesd about work becaus eI'm there to teach english and I know how to speak english and so it's no problem .
I'm quite enjoying eahc day now! I'm practicing thai, my lessons are better and better and the students don't look at me like i'm an alien anymore. (well not as much anyways... )
my kids are even more amazed by me than reffas. at her private school there have been foreigners before. at my school I Think I might be the first one.
hahahaha. omg. it's quite an adventure. I'm very happy now !
I will post pictures of our house later on today.
miss you all LOTS
can't wait to see mom and dad in two short weeks :)
xox
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Kroo
So i just discovered that more people are reading this than I thought. So I will write a little more often now.
We decided to sign on at the schools in Surat Thani. Jessica's is called Tessaban Saam(3) and mine is called "Baan Pa Sa Ang-Grit" (Home of English)
Jessica's is a government school, she teaches young kids with up to 40 students per class. She teaches about average 4-5 hours a day.
My school is a private language school. The kids come twice a week for two hours a day, and its usually after they are done regular school or on weekends. So I work from 10am-6:30 pm and I only have to teach from 5:30-6:30. My boss teaches them English in Thai (yeah I know... doesnt make sense) but basically he translates words and gives them like 10-15 vocabulary words and then he lets me teach them how to make the words into proper sentences and teach them how to pronounce it properly.
Example: My Boss taught them all the ingredients to make a Spicy Papaya Salad, and showed them on a video how to make it. Then he made them write the steps on paper. And he gave me their worksheets with what they wrote and it said things like:
Step one: "scrap papaya rain on bowl" (which should actually be "scrape the raw papaya into a bowl") hahaha
And thats where I come in, I have to teach them how to make it into a sentence that makes sence.
it can kind of be a bit frustrating because the students are very shy, Thai children are embarassed that they may make a mistake in front of their peers, so they would rather say nothing at all , than make a mistake. So its very hard to encourage them to talk during class. Which, really...thats what learning a language is all about, is talking!! So It takes abit of patience.
But the kids are very adorable. They all have funky nicknames like "Benz, Wave, PingPong, GiGi, Boy, Guy, A (yes, the letter "A"), Fifa, Earth, etc..
Benz is my favourite student. hes this sweet little boy that comes up to me shyly every afternoon and says "Good Afternoon Teacher Reffa" and hugs my waist. And he always tries really hard in class. and when another student is too shy to answer a question in front of their classmates, he gets up from his seat and goes over to them and grabs their hand and comes up to the front of the class with them and helps them if he knows, and if he doesnt know, he just stands their with them and puts his arm around them and smiles at them to assure them that they can do it. <--- really cute kid!
Most of my students have never seen a white person before, so they are constantly asking me why I am bigger than most girls, and why my eyes are grey. They ask if they can look at my eyes all the time, and then they giggle amongst each other after crowding around and looking at my eyes in amazement. Sometimes out of nowhere, they will raise their hand and say things like "Teacher Reffa, how tall are you?" or "Teacher Reffa, what do you like?" and they are always interested in things about their teacher, so you get asked a lot of questions like how much you weigh, where you live, etc..
Right now, My boss is teaching me about Thai history, because he wants me to teach it to the kids so they learn about their country and culture. So I am learning about the royal palace, the different kings, buddhism and all the temples and their symbolism.
Some things I've learned so far:
The Marble Temple, in Bangkok (me and Jessica have a few pictures of outside of it) was made of white marble from Italy. Within it, there is a replica statue of the "Golden Buddha Image" (there is only one buddha, but there are many "images" of buddha and there is a statue for every one. Ex: Standing, Sitting, Emerald, Tourturing ) and the golden sitting buddha image is said to be the most beautiful buddha statue in the world. There is an original, and a replica. The original is made of pure gold, and the replica of brass. Anyone can go and see the replica, but you have to remove your shoes before entering the temple.
Outside the temple there are two white lion statues. They aren't fully sitting, and they aren't fully standing, they are there to "protect" the temple from bad things, which is why they are neither sitting, nor standing, they are in a stance where they can pounce at any time.
Just little neat facts like that. And like the royal palace was built for the 5th king, and there is a picture of it on the back of a 5 Baht coin. Nobody is allowed in the palace except for the royal family, and the symbol of royalty is a three headed Elephant with a Rahman God sitting ontop of it.
It can be interesting. But I think you would need to see pictures and stuff to make it more interesting.
Anyways,
It hasnt stopped raining here. Its very rainy but hot at the same time, its been 34 degrees some days but rain up to your ankles!! Not what we're used to.
Monsoon season will be over soon though, and then we will start complaining about how its too hot!!
My Boss told me something very eerie the other day. It keeps popping up in my head. He was telling me about how Thai people are very small/petit framed (which is obvious) and he said that he refuses to buy clothes from a second hand store. And I was telling him that I thought second hand shopping was a great idea, and earth friendly and a cool way to bring back old styles and have unique clothes from different places and he stopped me and said "I know, you never know where the clothes come from" and I didnt really say much and then he said "You wouldnt understand this, because you didnt live here during the tsunami, but before the tsunami came, you couldnt buy large clothes at the second hand stores... Now they are having Large Brand name clothing and clothes made in Europe and with European brand names... After the tsunami a lot of tourists died, and the poor thai people took the clothes of the dead bodies so that when they re-built their shops the could sell the clothes to survive and get back on their feet. Some of these clothes are still in the shops i'm sure, and I don't want to purchase them"
UHHHH Gross.
Anyways, a little weird...
Jessica and I decided to move into the house in Phorkuntale(friendly little quiet neighbourhood) Its near Scott (friend from school), about 2 streets over, and its a 2 bedroom house, with a front deck and a bathroom. No Fridge or AirConditioning, and no Stove....but we can be thrifty and creative.Especially for $100 a month! We will buy a fan, so we dont die.... but we want to build a firepit outside and cook outside every evening. We dont want to buy much, because we dont want to worry about the hassle of selling it later. Plus, we cant afford to buy stuff anyways!! haha
The price of the house is good for me, because I only make around 400 a month at my job.
Its going to be hard to save to travel around on our holidays from school, but we are going to head over to our homebase (Patong Beach) on December 5th, 6th and 7th to meet up with Aunt Reta and Uncle Dave for a few days, hang out on the beach and show them our favourite places.
We're looking forward to it. We'll take the 4 hour bus after Jess gets out of school and get there just in time for the sunset hopefully!
Thats enough for now. I am going to pracise my Thai. we are getting better, but we still haven't gotten the tones down pat. You have to have a sing-song voice sometimes to get the word right!
Miss everyone, LOTS. Hope you enjoyed reading. Whenever something interesting happens I will try and rememeber to put it in!!
Hugs and Kisses!!
Reffa
We decided to sign on at the schools in Surat Thani. Jessica's is called Tessaban Saam(3) and mine is called "Baan Pa Sa Ang-Grit" (Home of English)
Jessica's is a government school, she teaches young kids with up to 40 students per class. She teaches about average 4-5 hours a day.
My school is a private language school. The kids come twice a week for two hours a day, and its usually after they are done regular school or on weekends. So I work from 10am-6:30 pm and I only have to teach from 5:30-6:30. My boss teaches them English in Thai (yeah I know... doesnt make sense) but basically he translates words and gives them like 10-15 vocabulary words and then he lets me teach them how to make the words into proper sentences and teach them how to pronounce it properly.
Example: My Boss taught them all the ingredients to make a Spicy Papaya Salad, and showed them on a video how to make it. Then he made them write the steps on paper. And he gave me their worksheets with what they wrote and it said things like:
Step one: "scrap papaya rain on bowl" (which should actually be "scrape the raw papaya into a bowl") hahaha
And thats where I come in, I have to teach them how to make it into a sentence that makes sence.
it can kind of be a bit frustrating because the students are very shy, Thai children are embarassed that they may make a mistake in front of their peers, so they would rather say nothing at all , than make a mistake. So its very hard to encourage them to talk during class. Which, really...thats what learning a language is all about, is talking!! So It takes abit of patience.
But the kids are very adorable. They all have funky nicknames like "Benz, Wave, PingPong, GiGi, Boy, Guy, A (yes, the letter "A"), Fifa, Earth, etc..
Benz is my favourite student. hes this sweet little boy that comes up to me shyly every afternoon and says "Good Afternoon Teacher Reffa" and hugs my waist. And he always tries really hard in class. and when another student is too shy to answer a question in front of their classmates, he gets up from his seat and goes over to them and grabs their hand and comes up to the front of the class with them and helps them if he knows, and if he doesnt know, he just stands their with them and puts his arm around them and smiles at them to assure them that they can do it. <--- really cute kid!
Most of my students have never seen a white person before, so they are constantly asking me why I am bigger than most girls, and why my eyes are grey. They ask if they can look at my eyes all the time, and then they giggle amongst each other after crowding around and looking at my eyes in amazement. Sometimes out of nowhere, they will raise their hand and say things like "Teacher Reffa, how tall are you?" or "Teacher Reffa, what do you like?" and they are always interested in things about their teacher, so you get asked a lot of questions like how much you weigh, where you live, etc..
Right now, My boss is teaching me about Thai history, because he wants me to teach it to the kids so they learn about their country and culture. So I am learning about the royal palace, the different kings, buddhism and all the temples and their symbolism.
Some things I've learned so far:
The Marble Temple, in Bangkok (me and Jessica have a few pictures of outside of it) was made of white marble from Italy. Within it, there is a replica statue of the "Golden Buddha Image" (there is only one buddha, but there are many "images" of buddha and there is a statue for every one. Ex: Standing, Sitting, Emerald, Tourturing ) and the golden sitting buddha image is said to be the most beautiful buddha statue in the world. There is an original, and a replica. The original is made of pure gold, and the replica of brass. Anyone can go and see the replica, but you have to remove your shoes before entering the temple.
Outside the temple there are two white lion statues. They aren't fully sitting, and they aren't fully standing, they are there to "protect" the temple from bad things, which is why they are neither sitting, nor standing, they are in a stance where they can pounce at any time.
Just little neat facts like that. And like the royal palace was built for the 5th king, and there is a picture of it on the back of a 5 Baht coin. Nobody is allowed in the palace except for the royal family, and the symbol of royalty is a three headed Elephant with a Rahman God sitting ontop of it.
It can be interesting. But I think you would need to see pictures and stuff to make it more interesting.
Anyways,
It hasnt stopped raining here. Its very rainy but hot at the same time, its been 34 degrees some days but rain up to your ankles!! Not what we're used to.
Monsoon season will be over soon though, and then we will start complaining about how its too hot!!
My Boss told me something very eerie the other day. It keeps popping up in my head. He was telling me about how Thai people are very small/petit framed (which is obvious) and he said that he refuses to buy clothes from a second hand store. And I was telling him that I thought second hand shopping was a great idea, and earth friendly and a cool way to bring back old styles and have unique clothes from different places and he stopped me and said "I know, you never know where the clothes come from" and I didnt really say much and then he said "You wouldnt understand this, because you didnt live here during the tsunami, but before the tsunami came, you couldnt buy large clothes at the second hand stores... Now they are having Large Brand name clothing and clothes made in Europe and with European brand names... After the tsunami a lot of tourists died, and the poor thai people took the clothes of the dead bodies so that when they re-built their shops the could sell the clothes to survive and get back on their feet. Some of these clothes are still in the shops i'm sure, and I don't want to purchase them"
UHHHH Gross.
Anyways, a little weird...
Jessica and I decided to move into the house in Phorkuntale(friendly little quiet neighbourhood) Its near Scott (friend from school), about 2 streets over, and its a 2 bedroom house, with a front deck and a bathroom. No Fridge or AirConditioning, and no Stove....but we can be thrifty and creative.Especially for $100 a month! We will buy a fan, so we dont die.... but we want to build a firepit outside and cook outside every evening. We dont want to buy much, because we dont want to worry about the hassle of selling it later. Plus, we cant afford to buy stuff anyways!! haha
The price of the house is good for me, because I only make around 400 a month at my job.
Its going to be hard to save to travel around on our holidays from school, but we are going to head over to our homebase (Patong Beach) on December 5th, 6th and 7th to meet up with Aunt Reta and Uncle Dave for a few days, hang out on the beach and show them our favourite places.
We're looking forward to it. We'll take the 4 hour bus after Jess gets out of school and get there just in time for the sunset hopefully!
Thats enough for now. I am going to pracise my Thai. we are getting better, but we still haven't gotten the tones down pat. You have to have a sing-song voice sometimes to get the word right!
Miss everyone, LOTS. Hope you enjoyed reading. Whenever something interesting happens I will try and rememeber to put it in!!
Hugs and Kisses!!
Reffa
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
loy kratong
happy loy kratong!!
spoken exactly how it is spelt, this is a festival which takes place in thailand every November 12th. Everyone spends the days leading up to it preparing their "kratongs." these are floats covered in banana leaves and flowers. the leaves are all hand folded and decorated to look beauitful and they are very extravagant.
in the evening of November 12th, everyone gathers at the nearest fresh water (usually a river rather than a lake) and brings their homemade floats along. they put candles and insence on them and lgiht them around the same time, then together they place them in the water and watch them float down the river in the evening.
They believe that if you think of your wishes and hopes while watching your kratong with the others all lit up under the moon that they will come true.
sweet eh? the kids are all excited and I made a kratong today.
just thought i'd share. it's a cute day here.
xo dezzy (my new thai name.. many cannot say/remember jessica so i said jesse, and they say dezzy. i like it. hehe)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Surat
Surat Thani is pretty nice. We went to the vegetable market last night and we bought all kinds of vegetables (fresh&organic) and brought them back to Scott's. He bought some chicken and mushrooms and had a traditional Thai Barbecue. It was raining a little, because monsoon season isn't quite over yet, but he has a big covered area that we sat in. He invited over his 3 friends from down the road (sorry, I can't remember their names still) and we got to practice speaking Thai.
Since there is no English here, we think that its going to be good for us to pracice everyday.
Scott's son, Sebastien is 5 and he can speak both Thai and English... So sometimes we can just ask him "Sebastien, what is ____ in Thai?" and he can help us!
The people here are very friendly, same as Patong.
Still having trouble finding me a job.
Since there is no English here, we think that its going to be good for us to pracice everyday.
Scott's son, Sebastien is 5 and he can speak both Thai and English... So sometimes we can just ask him "Sebastien, what is ____ in Thai?" and he can help us!
The people here are very friendly, same as Patong.
Still having trouble finding me a job.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
home2
WE LOVE IT HERE!!!!
heheheheeee!!! so good!!
we were both feeling a little under the weather due to the previous days' going-away-party festivities and so we ate a fantastic sandwich down the road (where they make our sandwich as we walk in because they know what we're going to get... ) . after wards we said goodbye to everyone (no tears this time!) and made our way to phuket town.
thank god for the public transit!! let me just lay this out for you. everytime we had to go to phuket town (about 25 minutes away) and we had to go quite often recently for interviews etc, we had to pay 400-500 baht both ways, plus whatever we spent place to place once we got there. so about 1000 baht in a day to phuket town just for transportation, that works out to roughly 33$ . that's a LOT1!!! especially since a tank of gas only costs 100 baht (3.30$) and lasts like a week. ugghhhh such a tourist trap! anyways, so the public transit is 25 baht anywhere (less than a dollar) . we spent 50 baht instead of 1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how good is that?!!??!?!!?!??!!??!!??!
we're getting the hang of this.. if someone told us this stuff from day one we would probably be about 30,000,000,000 baht richer. lol . acutally, this is sad. ... ..
we worked it out, and the amount that we spent on tuktuks (thai for taxi.. means cheapcheap.. YEAH RIGHT) .. could have bought us a motorcycle here. isn't that discusting?! ughhh sooo annoyyyinggggg. but then I think about how many cabs back home i got for 30$ ... i could probably have saved all those times and bought a cheap car so i guess it's kinda the same. but when you're not working... 1000 baht is a lot just for transportation. anyways that s my rant.
here in surat thani, a tuktuk costs like 20 baht to go for like 30 minutes. wayyy better.
but there's like, no english here so we're going to have to step up our thai a notch.
we ordered our lunch today in thai. it was a little rough and broken but they understood us , and we weren't served any meat so we're doing alright I Think!!
we are now staying with our friend Scott. he's really cool and has an adorable son named sebastian. so cute! huge beautiful home, and he's paying 7,000 baht a month (about 200$ ) ...... SO GOOD EH?!!?!
we love surat thani.
yay! will take pics and show you soon.
xox J
heheheheeee!!! so good!!
we were both feeling a little under the weather due to the previous days' going-away-party festivities and so we ate a fantastic sandwich down the road (where they make our sandwich as we walk in because they know what we're going to get... ) . after wards we said goodbye to everyone (no tears this time!) and made our way to phuket town.
thank god for the public transit!! let me just lay this out for you. everytime we had to go to phuket town (about 25 minutes away) and we had to go quite often recently for interviews etc, we had to pay 400-500 baht both ways, plus whatever we spent place to place once we got there. so about 1000 baht in a day to phuket town just for transportation, that works out to roughly 33$ . that's a LOT1!!! especially since a tank of gas only costs 100 baht (3.30$) and lasts like a week. ugghhhh such a tourist trap! anyways, so the public transit is 25 baht anywhere (less than a dollar) . we spent 50 baht instead of 1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how good is that?!!??!?!!?!??!!??!!??!
we're getting the hang of this.. if someone told us this stuff from day one we would probably be about 30,000,000,000 baht richer. lol . acutally, this is sad. ... ..
we worked it out, and the amount that we spent on tuktuks (thai for taxi.. means cheapcheap.. YEAH RIGHT) .. could have bought us a motorcycle here. isn't that discusting?! ughhh sooo annoyyyinggggg. but then I think about how many cabs back home i got for 30$ ... i could probably have saved all those times and bought a cheap car so i guess it's kinda the same. but when you're not working... 1000 baht is a lot just for transportation. anyways that s my rant.
here in surat thani, a tuktuk costs like 20 baht to go for like 30 minutes. wayyy better.
but there's like, no english here so we're going to have to step up our thai a notch.
we ordered our lunch today in thai. it was a little rough and broken but they understood us , and we weren't served any meat so we're doing alright I Think!!
we are now staying with our friend Scott. he's really cool and has an adorable son named sebastian. so cute! huge beautiful home, and he's paying 7,000 baht a month (about 200$ ) ...... SO GOOD EH?!!?!
we love surat thani.
yay! will take pics and show you soon.
xox J
Monday, November 3, 2008
home
You know when you pull onto your street after a really long week and the familiarity of it all makes you smile and feel cozy even though the week didn't deliver? Or when you cross the rickety bridge of Elderbank backroad and suddenly remember that you have a hundred people on your team who will hug you and make you smile ? when you pull into the driveway of the big white house and know inside it'll be warm and full of love?
It's not quite the same, but that's how Nanai road has come to feel to me and Reffa now. We were bopping along on the public transit which is 25 baht instead of 400 (for a tuktuk), and the closer we got to what we now call home, the happier we felt to know we would see mum, our friends, our pub, and our bed soon. We were stuck in phuket town applying for jobs.. we just don't feel it. there aren't any jobs here right now. we're packing our bags and leaving tomorrow morning to go to surat thani. we might be a few days without a blog, just because we don't know when or where a computer might be.
will miss you. we keep hoping that surat thani will bring it's own home to our hearts.
xoxox
It's not quite the same, but that's how Nanai road has come to feel to me and Reffa now. We were bopping along on the public transit which is 25 baht instead of 400 (for a tuktuk), and the closer we got to what we now call home, the happier we felt to know we would see mum, our friends, our pub, and our bed soon. We were stuck in phuket town applying for jobs.. we just don't feel it. there aren't any jobs here right now. we're packing our bags and leaving tomorrow morning to go to surat thani. we might be a few days without a blog, just because we don't know when or where a computer might be.
will miss you. we keep hoping that surat thani will bring it's own home to our hearts.
xoxox
Saturday, November 1, 2008
inbetween patong and thailand
We again, apologize that we're never on here. haha. we were on karon beach for a few days with our friend moisy. it was a nice break but we decided our best bet was to come back to hillside, where we feel comfortable, and try to find work otu of here where we have friends, connections , and free internet.
We've talked to a lot of bigwigs. we've had a few job offers but nothing that suits our fancy yet. either nto enough pay, too long of a contract, bad location, or too many hours. we're looking for somethign that's juuuusssttt right because in thailand you have to sign a years contract so we gotta make sure it's good.
we were offered the job we wanted at a school called kajonkietsuksa (here's the webpage if anyone's interested to see it.. .http://www.kajonkietsuksa.ac.th/en/mainframe.html )
we love the school but it's about 50 hours a week for a little less than average pay... most jobs offer you that but only 25 hours. big difference!!
anyways we have this giant dilemma.. . we want to stay here but it's too expensive and there are just no jobs...
we might go to surat thani. our friend scott lives there with his son and offered for us to stay with him a few days while we figure it out. he's areally cool guy who had his TEFL course with us and there's lots of jobs over there.
anyway. keep wishing us luck!!! xoxox we'll keep you posted
ps here's a pic of reffa's new BOYYYYYFRIEEENDDDD hahahaha they hang out and are so cute... it's justl ike jr high <3
We've talked to a lot of bigwigs. we've had a few job offers but nothing that suits our fancy yet. either nto enough pay, too long of a contract, bad location, or too many hours. we're looking for somethign that's juuuusssttt right because in thailand you have to sign a years contract so we gotta make sure it's good.
we were offered the job we wanted at a school called kajonkietsuksa (here's the webpage if anyone's interested to see it.. .http://www.kajonkietsuksa.ac.th/en/mainframe.html )
we love the school but it's about 50 hours a week for a little less than average pay... most jobs offer you that but only 25 hours. big difference!!
anyways we have this giant dilemma.. . we want to stay here but it's too expensive and there are just no jobs...
we might go to surat thani. our friend scott lives there with his son and offered for us to stay with him a few days while we figure it out. he's areally cool guy who had his TEFL course with us and there's lots of jobs over there.
anyway. keep wishing us luck!!! xoxox we'll keep you posted
ps here's a pic of reffa's new BOYYYYYFRIEEENDDDD hahahaha they hang out and are so cute... it's justl ike jr high <3
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