Week One PART 2: Long Lost Friends and a Long Weekend

Picking up straight from where we left off, my mentor gave me a lift to Chonburi, where I got a mini-van (a legit mode of public transport in Thailand) to Bangkok. I was heading to the capital in order to see two Australian friends, the wonderful Sophie and Tineka, who I was friends with from my first year at Leeds (they came over as study abroad students). I was SO excited to see them as it's literally been a year and a half since we were last together. 

On arrival in Bangkok some two hours later (traffic is be-yond a joke around there), I caught the SkyTrain (which is amazing) to meet them at their hotel. After the inevitable excessive excited squeals/hand flapping on seeing my two babz, we all got showered before heading out for some cheap dinner. And with dinner comes Chang. Oh Chang. This Thai beer is so DECEPTIVE and creeps up on you (the fact the bottles are ma-hoosive also plays a part), so by the end of our second one we were already tipsy and I was sending voice messages back to friends in England lolcringe (SHOUTOUT TO U MICHAELA). Here's a picture of me with my two bottles of Chang, effortlessly cool as ever...:

I mean you just would wouldn't you

We headed out after dinner, not to Khao San Road, which is where most "backpackers" go, but to stylish(ish) Silom. To save you from hearing another "Drunk in Bangkok" story I'll summarise by saying we all lost each other and then proceeded to find each other (aside from Sophie who was fast asleep back at the hotel by this point) on the Khao San Road (where we weren't even meant to be going and is nowhere near Silom). This was always going to happen and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Anyway, after waking up and having that little heart attack moment (where am I/who's next to me/WHAT HAVE I DONE) I remembered I was staying with Sophie and Tineka at their hotel. I also remembered, at the spritely hour of 8am, that they were leaving at 8.30am (with my flight to Chiang Mai not till 9.30pm that night). So I had a whole day to myself, alone, in Bangkok, with 2% battery on my phone, still drunk, sticky and sweaty, with next to no money. My life. 

After catching the Metro (tick) to Lumphini, I tried to sleep in the park there, which is the biggest green space in Bangkok afaik. Retiro it ain't, the grass was all dry and scratchy to my poor delicate legs, and I was attacked by a vicious army of ants, intent on getting in ma pantz. At least someone is I guess....

ANYWHO, I decided the sleep-in-the-park-all-day dream was offically dead, so I just walked around aimlessly for a few hours until it started to rain. Heavily. Again, my life. At this point I decided to check out one of Bangkok's malls, Siam Paragon (this also happens to be the biggest). It was literally incredible and I've never been in a shopping centre as huge as it. I proceeded to eat McDonalds there (my 3rd in a week, 2nd in 24 hours) and then, as it had stopped raining, walked around Bangkok aimlessly for a few more hours.

Eventually it was time to go meet my Chiang Mai travel buddies at the airport, when of course, my phone battery COMPLETELY died, so I had no way of arranging a meeting point. Thankfully I spotted Tom by chance pretty much as soon as I got there, so we all got checked in and through security quickly. We had dinner at the airport (either KFC or Burger King I can't remember which although I've definitely been to both since I've been in Thailand obesity beckons etc) and got on the plane a little later. 

After sleeping the entire 1 hour journey we arrived in Chiang Mai tired but excited. We were staying with Prapasri and her sister at their house, which was AMAZING. After those two nights at school it was so nice to have fast Wi-Fi, a hot shower, and air-con. After arriving we went to bed pretty quickly as it was late and we were tired and we had lots to do and see over the following days.

Rather than yaddayaddayadda on about what I did/saw, how about a few choice pictures with captions to keep you captivated: 

Why am I so awkward?

At da lake wid da galz

ME ON AN ELEPHANT 

Natural shot

Clearly in heaven here..

Posing at a traditional Thai restaurant where we watched Northern Thai Dancing

We went to Prapasri's old school one morning
to teach a class...here you can see us singing Step's seminal classic TRAGEDY

Chiang Mai Crew

All in all, a top weekend all around. On Wednesday afternoon we packed our bags and went back to Chonburi, where our second official week of teaching was due to start the next day (all 2 days of it, or 1, as you will see in the next entry). 

So, you may think my best moment this weekend was maybe riding an elephant, or bamboo rafting down the river, or even visiting some local hot springs, but no. Those who are near and dear will know the absolute highlight of my weekend was getting a m-f-in BANDANA. I have been going on about getting one for months (along with getting a tattoo, piercing, cutting ma hair S H O R T etc) and the moment finally happened where I got not one, but TWO, from Walking Street Market. I don't exactly know why I wanted one so bad but I don't know why I want a lot of the things I want (gr8 English) AND GOD DAMN I WANTED IT. So I shall leave you with an image of me poutin' with my bandana, proud as a peacock.

I don't even care 

Week One PART 1: Start of School

Firstly I apologise for not updating this blog sooner, the plan to blog every week still stands, it's just been an incredibly busy first fortnight. Yes, I've been so busy I've taught a grand total of 5 classes...tehe.

Let's rewind back to Tuesday 16th July a.k.a. Orientation Day 2 a.k.a. MOVE TO SCHOOL DAY. The day was run similarly to the day before, with teaching activities in the morning followed by lunch. However today at 2pm we were all due to be whisked off to our respective locations around the country. 'Citin. After a particularly heavy night before on the Khao San road (refer to previous entry for details) my roommate Nick and I subsequently managed to sleep through our alarms and woke up at the ripe old hour of 11.15am, when activities were due to have started at 9am. Oops. After a hurried shower and literally stumbling into my clothes and shoes I arrived at my training room where I found out quite a few other people had missed the first few sessions too which made me feel a liiiittle less guilty. Teacher training followed until about 1pm when we had a final lunch, and then at 2pm it was time to say goodbye to all our new friends and really start the adventure. 

My destination, Chonburi, isn't too far from Bangkok (about 50 miles or so), but the notorious Bangkok traffic made the journey time to destination about 2 hours or so. I was travelling with my mentor, Jeab, the Education Officer for Chonburi Area 1, Prapasri (who I also live with Friday-Sunday), and two other assistants, Tom and Giuliana (who will henceforth be known as G) and their mentors. True to form, I quickly fell asleep during the van ride, but not before organising a trip to Chiang Mai at the weekend with Prapasri (who conveniently has a house there) and Tom and G. 

We arrived to our destination, the Education Office for Chonburi Area 1, where we were immediately ushered in to a room where we met some important education-type people. We also met Kyle, an American volunteer living and working in Chonburi but through a different program. This welcome ceremony was very surreal and confusing as I was still jet-lagged/drunk, but I decided to just smile and accept everything that came my way.

Not really sure what's going on but ^_^

After the ceremony we got back into the van and went to Prapasri's house, where we will all be living together at the weekends. After lugging my ridiculous suitcase up the steepest stairs of life, we all went out for dinner at the local mall (ew at the Americanism but this is what they call them so ya) and ate the good ol' traditional Thai dish...PIZZA. 

The next morning we awoke bright and early to be taken to our new schools, where we would be living Monday-Thursday. I, of course, am living and working furthest from the city (some things never change oh Alcalá) and it took a good 50 minutes in the car to get to school, but not before stopping off for a nice breakfast of FLAMING HOT CURRY AND NOODLES with my director at 7.30am. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not *really* a major fan of spice, but being the passive lil yes-man I can be, I said "Yeah I don't mind spice really". Spice means something else in Thai CLEARLY, as my lips were genuinely on fire till about 2pm. 

Anyway, I arrived at school and was shown to my "house". THIS IS MY CRIB: 

This is where the magic happens

I HAVE A BALCONY AT LAST LIFE IS COMPLETE

So my accomodation is pretty basic but I have a proper toilet and shower (which, although cold, is VERY refreshing and gets me where I need to be at 6.30am) so I'm happy. 

After seeing my accomodation, meeting the other teachers and having my first school lunch (spicy -what else- chicken soup), I went to the local market after school with some of the other teachers who live at the school. It was good fun to go and see a real, genuine, non-touristy Thai market at work, although sometimes I felt like I was one of the things on sale (stares aplenty). Later that evening I ate dinner with the teachers and learnt a little bit of Thai, and also tried to teach them a bit of English. Though there is a clear language barrier we all really get on and there was many a laugh shared. 

On Thursday I had my first proper classes, M3 (15 year olds aaaah) and K2 (5 year olds). Both classes were great as I introduced myself and got to know the kids a little bit. I was a bit apprehensive about working with older children as my experience lies with the younger years (4-9 is ma forte), but the kids in M3 were really good and very polite. K2 were obviously ridonkulously cute and remind me a bit of Spanish kids in their temperament i.e. a bit wild. 

On Friday we didn't actually have classes as we were celebrating the candle festival, which signifies the beginning of Buddhist Lent. The kids performed dances throughout the village (which is literally one street) before offering candles to the monks at the local temple:

SO CUTE.

 This was a great cultural experience, though the most eye-opening moment for me was at the temple. I was quite nervous about being in the temple as I know how revered monks are etc, and I know how I tend to embarrass myself in these kind of situations. So I was doing my best to be very respectful and knelt properly, when all of a sudden one of the monks (who were all sitting in a line facing us, looking very monk-ish) pulled out his iPhone, checked a message, laughed to himself, then put it away. Oh. THAILAND <3

After this, I hopped into my mentor's car who drove me back to Chonburi, and i prepared to hit BANGKOK for the night. More on that and my long weekend in Chiang Mai in the next entry.

I really need to find a way to make these entries more succint....

(Dis)Orientation

HAI. So I'm alive...somehow. I've been in Thailand for about 3 days and the whole thing has been one big blur so far. From severe (slight exaggeration) jetlag to a constant stream of new faces and names I had no chance of remembering if it weren't for Facebook to Khao San Road (more on that later), I've hardly had a moment to myself to try and make sense of this whole situation. 

Until now. From here on out I'm going to be having a LOT of time to myself, as I sit here in my bedroom at school (you read that correctly, I live at school). I am the only foreign person on site and no one really speaks English aside from my mentor and the 3 other English teachers. Even then, the thick Thai accent makes trying to decipher meaning quite a challenge, but I'm not complaining. I'm actually finding the whole "back to basics" lifestyle refreshing so far, but it's only been a few hours since I moved in, so check back in a few days to see if I still think this.

But anyway, let's rewind back to Saturday 13th July 6:30pm-ish. Having just bid adieu to my wonderful Mumma and the one and only Becky Smith (who travelled the entire length of the Picadilly line just to see me for half an hour, YOU EARNED THIS MENTION GURL), I walked through Heathrow Terminal 4 Security Check, and from then on, I was alone. Lol so dramatic.

I actually have grown really accustomed to travelling alone after my year abroad, so I wasn't really fazed by this prospect. Big props to Etihad Airways, they are really great and made the two LONG ASS flights more bearable (for all you film buffs out there Stoker = weird, The Place Beyond the Pines = FANTASTIC, my eyes even leaked a little but shh). After a brief 3 hour layover in Abu Dhabi, I boarded the second flight and a mere 7 hours later arrived in Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit (a.k.a. Bangkok) copy and paste job don't currr.

On exiting the plane all the other ETA's (English Teaching Assistants) who were on the same flight went through immigration together, which was quick and painless, retrieved our luggage and boarded a much needed air-conditioned coach to take us to our final destination, the Ambassador Hotel. Quick note on the weather (can't shake off that quintissential British-ness), it HUMID. HUGH - MID. Anywho, we arrived at the hotel at about 11.30pm and had to buddy up with another ETA to share a hotel room with for the 2 nights. Luckily I saw a guy I'd met when I went to pick up my visa in Birmingham, so we shared da room. As it was pretty late and I was shattered, I only went out to explore for an hour or so, but that's all I needed to get a big impression of Bangkok.

I saw 3 of the biggest cockroaches life has ever punished me with seeing (anyone who knows me knows i H8 roaches) and a rat just casually hopping across the pavement within 20 minutes after leaving the hotel. Lush. On the other hand, there's literally bar-vans (dunno how else to describe them) just set up on the side of the street pumping out shitty music on shitty speakers, which I l.o.v.e.d. Anyway, after a couple of Changs we decided to call it a night as we had an "early" start the next day (9.30am start...after a year going from Madrid to effin Alcalá a 9.30 sounds like the most luxurious lie-in/coming home from da club oh Madrid I love and miss you).

Orientation Day 1 consisted of being given a lot of freebies, meeting our mentors (big shout out to all the Thai people affiliated with me and ma school and Chonburi, they are SO friendly and lovely), and getting to know the other ETAs. There was also the small task of trying to teach us how to be teachers in just over 24 hours (imagine how many times I smugly mentioned "I've actually been doing the exact same thing for 9 months in Madrid, Spain. Have I mentioned I just got back literally a week ago from Madrid M A D R I D Madrizzzzz" (I'm being slightly ironic I'm not a dickhead but I did mention Madrid loads love u long tym xoxo).

After training finished at about 5 I went back to the hotel room and did what I do best: S L E E P. I seriously love napping. I also love planning to nap for half an hour then waking up covered in my own dribble 3 hours later; NO REGRETS NEVER CHANGE. Anywho about 10pm we went up to somebody's room where there were quite a few ETAs drinking, before heading out to the famous Khao San Road. Now, I like to pride myself on not always going for the obvious tourist trail destinations (Mondo, La Riviera and Fabrik count as legit "Spanish" experiences, nothing like partying with the Choniiiis), so I wasn't filled with crazy excitement at going here, but I'd heard big things about it so of course had to give it a go.

Holy lol. Khoa San so cwazy. Lits dunno who I thought I was for the night but I ended up chilling with the locals and helping them sell stuff for the night. I even ended up having a little dance-off with this adorable lil girl selling roses. A quick note to FILET'O'FISH lovers out there, McDonalds Thailand do this amazing burger called DOUBLE FILET BURGER. It does double filets (Read it in "She's a life ruiner; She ruins people's lives" voice). It was so good and there's nothing like inhaling your drunk food and burning your tongue cuz you just can't get enough. Anyway I ended up helping this guy sell balloons till 5am when everything was shut and everyone else had gone...after which all the Thai people who've been selling roses/lewd bracelets/whatever get food and sit down and eat together. And there I was, chomping away, laughing at jokes (I had no idea what they meant and more importantly who they were about, most likely me). I kept thinking to myself, this is a proper legit Thai cultural experience, I'm living like a LOCAL lol who do I think I am but seriously. But I'm glad I had that experience as I got to experience first hand how lovely the Thai people are, they genuinely were so nice to me as I was scoffing my face with the food they paid for. I even got to see the interior of typical Bangkok-ian's house...lol.

ANYWAY I was going to carry on and talk about moving to my school etc but it probably deserves another blog entry as dis is so long and I'm tired now and ceebs etc but ciao keep reading back4more x

First Entry: Beginnings and Endings.

For those of you who know me, just lol.

Writing a personal blog is not something I ever really envisaged myself doing, but, as I am about to embark on perhaps the biggest adventure of my life, coupled with the fact that we have been advised to blog as part of our experience (more on that later), now seems the perfect time to dive head-first into the world of self-reflection written for all to see.

For those of you who don't know me (but seriously I expect even my family/close friends to at most read the first couple of posts, what are YOU doing here?!), my name is Pete(r), I'm 21 and I study Psychology at the University of Leeds.

The reason I have chosen now to start blogging is that, this Saturday, I am going to fly almost 6000 miles across the world from the UK to Thailand, to teach English for two months. The program is run through the British Council and we have been advised to keep a blog for the duration of our stay. So, here it is. 

Keen-eyed readers may have seen the title of this entry is called "Beginnings and Endings". Obviously the new beginning is my imminent Thai journey of gap-yah-esque self discovery, but what does the ending refer to, you ask?

Well, I have very recently returned to England after 9 and a half months living and working in the capital of Spain, Madrid. Again, I was teaching ("teaching") English to children in primary schools, and it was without a doubt one of the best years of my life. I intended to blog throughout my year abroad...but, as with many good intentions of mine, I never got round to do it. However, I feel it would be an injustice to my time there and all the wonderful things I experienced if I didn't give it at least one blog entry to try and even give the tiniest impression of how much the year meant to me....

This will have to wait till tomorrow though, as it's getting late and I don't want to bore y'all with a huge essay on top of this spiel. If you're still reading this, lol thanks, I'll try and get my Madrid entry in tomorrow if possible. Don't know how likely that is as I've still got to pack EVERYTHING. 

Anywho, that's my first blog entry EVAH done, and I actually kinda enjoyed it. Ewwww.

Pete x

BIG KISS 4 U