Thanksgiving - Thailand Style

It's obvious holidays are going to be different this year, but that doesn't mean I cannot try my hardest to make myself feel as much at home as possible during these times.

Thanksgiving was a bit different this year. Since I am the only American in my school, I did not even get wished a "Happy Thanksgiving" until very late in the evening. I also was not left in a turkey coma nor was I able to eat a cold turkey sandwich the next day. I did however manage to get a killer stomachache and this is why:

My new friend, Emily (from California) and I decided we would take a break from rice and noodles and attempt to make a proper American Thanksgiving dinner(without an oven I might add). We had all the fixings...well almost all the fixings. Actually, we just had those we could find at a local "farang" grocery store. We had instant garlic mashed potatoes from a bag, turkey flavored Stove Top stuffing from a box, fried chicken (it was the closest we could find to turkey) and a bottle of red wine. What more could a girl ask for? Surprisingly, everything turned out rather well given the circumstances. The only thing missing was homemade pumpkin pie. Since pie (or any normal tasting desserts) are hard to come by here, we decided it would be a good idea to ride our bikes to 7-11 and buy ungodly amounts of junk food. We had candy bars, cookies, sodas and much, much more. Needless to say, after the loads of unnecessary crap were consumed, we were left feeling full and sick to our stomachs.

Despite not having turkey or the Muppets Christmas Carol and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation to watch, my Thanksgiving night in Thailand was very enjoyable. I spent it with good company and ate food that reminded me, well somewhat reminded me, of home.

I have lots to be thankful for this year!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thai Water Aerobics...

Probably the best thing I have done thus far in my trip. Okay, maybe not the best, but definitely in the top 5!
Since moving to Thailand I swear I have packed on a small child in the stomach region (no this is not me announcing I'm pregnant, although I feel I look that way), it's just that all I do here is eat. I eat breakfast and shortly after I wonder what will be served for snack and lunch at school, then when biking home from school I wonder what I should buy off the street vendors for dinner: fried chicken and sticky rice, pad thai, pad see ew, etc etc. Here I thought I'd lose weight by moving overseas - WRONG! Unfortunately all of the rice, noodles and fried foods have had the opposite effect on me.
It was only after eating an insane amount of Halloween candy my sister sent me (bless her heart: I love and curse you by the way) I decided I needed to do something about my eating obsession. I was not about to cut out all the yummy food Thailand has to offer (it's just too dang good to do that) instead I decided to join a gym.
A few other co-workers and I now belong to a "youth facility" just blocks from our school. It's newly built and has a swimming pool, small workout room and various courts to play badminton/tennis on. All of this for 40 baht a year! Yes, you read that correctly, 40 baht a YEAR - that's less than $2 US dollars!! Are you kidding me? Back home I was spending (or should I say wasting) over $30 a month on a gym membership I NEVER used.
The only downfall to the place is that it's run by the Thai government therefore there are very strict rules: you cannot wear tank tops or shorts to workout in - not even capri pants. Your shoulders and ankles must be covered at all times - uh, did they forget that its nearly 90 degrees everyday w/ 100% humidity? Seriously, I have never sweat so much in my life after just 10 minutes on the elliptical even in an air conditioned room!
For those of you that know me, working out has never really been my thing. I try to pretend that I like it, but quite honestly I hate every second of it. I find the lamest excuses, however here I don't really have any: I don't have anyone to go home to, a tv to plop in front of or a dinner date to attend, so why not take an hour out of my rather boring evening to do something productive!
Since I absolutely hate treadmills (they hurt my knees) and I have some weird tingly sensation going on in my feet when I'm on the elliptical, I have decided to try out something new: WATER AEROBICS!
Today was my first class and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Being one of the only "farangs" belonging to the facility, people already stare - little did I know what was in store for me this afternoon. I swear all eyes were on my friend Anna and I - the maids, security guards and front desk attendants came to watch us. Apparently, we were their entertainment for the day and it was hilarious. Honestly I don't know what hurts more - my stomach from laughing for an hour straight or my legs from the insane number of kicks we had to do! All I know is my teacher was ripped and if he looks that way from doing water aerobics, sign me up! There was a real sense of community within the ladies in the class and I cannot wait to go back, even if it means wearing a swim cap and full body suit ;)

PS If anyone has any workout tips I would love to hear them! I got so used to going to classes back home that I am lost as to where to start. There are bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, free weights and a few machines to use - let me know what I should be doing so I don't look pregnant anymore!

Coffemate, Ice and Party

I kid you not, these are names of kids in my class.
Thais have extremely long names so many people have nicknames they go by. Apparently nicknames are also used to trick evil spirits. In the Buddhism religion, it is believed that if you go by your given name, evil spirits will find you and take you away...so giving your child (or yourself) a nickname confuses such evil spirits.
Some nicknames have similarities to given names, others make no sense at all!
Here are a few that just about killed me when reading them:
Coffeemate
Ice
Party
Pooh (yes like Winnie the Pooh)
Pan Pan
Noodle
Gigi
AI (pronounced "I")
The best part of all is people change their nickname whenever they want. One week they might be called "Minna, the next Tata".
It's all very confusing and hard to stay on top of your student's name!

1 down, 139 to go!

What is the countdown for you wonder...number of school days left until summer break, duh! Yes I am already counting down the days until summer vacation - isn't that what all teachers do? ;)

Today was my first day of "teaching", although I did anything but teach. Basically my day consisted of sitting around watching what other teachers did. I am still unclear of where I am going to end up, but for now they have me floating between the nursery and Kindergarten classes. From what I gathered today, this is what I will be doing until the end of the term December 16th - this however may very well change and wouldn't surprise me one bit if it does - nothing seems to surprise me anymore (except the gecko in my bed of course).

Even after just 9 hours of observing I am already noticing differences in the curriculum/school structure then what I grew up with. First of all, the age difference - kids start full day school at the age of TWO here! I couldn't believe it - they seem so tiny and young (probably b/c they are and most are still in diapers and cannot even speak Thai let alone English). The age/class structure is fascinating to me. The kids start in nursery at the age of 2, get moved to what they call kindergarten at 3/4, and then advance to "reception" at 5. From there they follow the 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade structure as we do in the States. Another huge thing I'm going to have to get used to is the British curriculum. I am the ONLY American teaching at the school and seriously need a key for what the other teachers are talking about. I find myself laughing at what they're saying to me b/c I don't understand it. I am going to have to train myself to start saying "zed" instead of "z", "toilet" instead of "bathroom", "bin" instead of "garbage" and spell things differently like "organise" as opposed to organize and "colour" instead of color! I know my dad was born in Britain, but I am not used to this and it is going to take some time to train myself!

All in all my first day was great - a little boring, but that's to be expected. These next few weeks are really to get to know the school and see how it runs.

By the way, I cannot tell you how stinking cute the kids are! Thai kids are absoultely beautiful - don't be suprised if I come home with a suitcase full of 'em :)

Anyway, I am very excited to be part of an International School and cannot wait to see where it takes me!

Home Sweet Home

After fourteen long hours spent blowing my nose and banging my head and knees on the upper sleeper bed of the night train, I made it to my final destination...BANGKOK!!!
Exhausted, unshowered and carrying far too much luggage, I made my way to my new school. Here I was told to wait for the landlord who was coming with my lease and keys to my new pad. It has been six long weeks of traveling, studying and job hunting and I was more than ready to get settled somewhere, anywhere really. I cannot tell you how excited I was to unpack my suitcase and have a place of my own to call home!
Thanks to the help of one of the teachers at Ascot I landed a great condo in the Summakorn Village in Eastern Bangkok (the same village my sister's friend Katie lived in when she taught in Thailand - how crazy is that?).
Walking into my condo all the nerves I had been fighting went out the door and I felt at ease. Unfortunately that only lasted a minute or two. I really began to look around and came to the conclusion that whoever was living here before me definitely had a different idea of cleanliness than myself. Seriously, had they ever used a mop or rag in their entire life? The floor was filthy, the closets and cupboards were moldy and the shower, eugh! The afternoon nap I was anticipating was put on hold and instead I walked to the nearest 7-11 where I bought out their entire cleaning supply section. I cleaned like I have never done before. Did I mention I found TWO dead cockroaches under the sink? GROSS! I much prefer my little gecko friend who was in my bed in Chiang Mai to these nasty critters! It was at this point I seriously started to rethink the downgrade I took in getting the cheaper condo oppose to the nicer one on the 6th floor - that one probably didn't smell of mold.
There's nothing bleach can't fix. After hours of sweating and cleaning, my place started to feel like home. There's something about getting rid of someone else's dirt and knowing from there on out whatever dirt or dust that may form is from you. Now all I need are pillows, a couch and a few other Sarah touches and the place will really feel like home!

With no sleep the night before and an afternoon spent working my butt off, I was more than ready to plop down and go to bed at 5pm. Instead I decide to accept the offer I got from a fellow teacher at Ascot and join in on girls night...I am so glad I did! I was picked up at 4:30 by 4 other Ascot teachers and we headed into downtown Bangkok for pedicures, foot massages and 50% off everything on the menu (women only) at a place called the Dubliner. I had a total blast! I can see myself fitting in great with my fellow co-workers!

I cannot describe the feeling I felt getting dropped off at my new place. I now had somewhere to call "home" - something I haven't had in over 2 months!

I absolutely LOVE the village I live in! There are numerous lakes in walking distance, tennis courts, street vendors, weekend markets and more! So far I have yet to see another foreigner, but know they are around and it will only be a matter of days until I run into them. I cannot wait to become a local here. Everything feels so right about my decision of working with Ascot and my new place.

Here are a few pictures of my place:

Halloween and Loy Krathong

This past weekend was jam packed as it was both Halloween and the kick off of the Loy Krathong festival. Here's a little of what I did:

Saturday night, Jim and his family (May and Jake) invited me to Jake's taekwondo Halloween party. This was the first ever and the kids were very excited! There were pirates, princesses, voodoo men and more! Many, if not all, have never dressed up for Halloween so it was very fun watching them run around in costume and light off fireworks (apparently to scare off all evil spirits that may be lurking around). Other than Jim, who has now been a resident here for 9 years, I was the only foreigner. I had a true Thai experience. We ate, drank, sang karaoke, lit lanterns and stayed out far past my bed time.



Sunday morning came way too soon, but I was excited for what was ahead. Jim and his family invited me along to sight see around the Chiang Mai area. We visited Doi Suthep which is a temple on top of a mountain. Here we lit candles and incense for good luck, found out what my Buddha was (the laying down Buddha) and received an ancient Chinese prophecy. We then hiked to a waterfall which was incredible in itself, went to a hot spring where you could buy eggs to boil and eat (no joke - very cool!), ate countless delicious meals and headed back into town for the Loy Krathong parade and for the Sunday night market in my neighborhood. I have never seen so much food or people in my life!



The following night I met up with a friend from back home and visited nearby temples that were decorated in colorful lanterns and lights for the festival. We walked to the river where people were lighting/letting go of krathongs (little boats made of banana leaves) and lanterns. The night's clear sky was filled with millions of lit lanterns floating in the air and it was truly breathtaking. Pictures do not give it justice.

For those interested, Google "Loy Krathong" for further details on this festival.

Over all it was an amazing weekend and I cannot thank Jim and May enough for the kindness they showered upon me. They made my week in Chiang Mai one I will never forget! I cannot wait to visit them again in either December or April :)