Review Week and Exams

The last two weeks of teaching for us at school was Review Week and Exams. On review week we were not supposed to teach anything new just review on things that we have already taught. We also had to send home a review outline telling the parents what their students needed to be studying. During review  week I had about 10 parents come to talk to me to specify what they should be studying. It seemed so strange for me to was that 8 year olds were studying for exams.

Exam week was also interesting, the students had to write 4 exams a day and some of their parents stayed at school all day to ensued that they were studying on their breaks. I felt pretty good about our exams going into them, I thought they were fair and that there should not be any problems for the kids writing them. The math exam was fine, but immediately after explaining the science exam, I freaked out because I thought it would be too hard for my students. During the whole hour I was panicking thinking that my students were going to fail. But surprisingly they all did fine. The English exam was a lot more difficult for the students I think mainly because of the amount of reading they had to do. I felt so bad for the students in my /3 class because they had no idea what was going on and when I went up to retrieve the exam the Thai Teacher informed me that it was a very difficult.

In these two weeks I learned so much about assessment and making exams, but I feel that these new skills may go to waste a little bit because I will NEVER make an exam or test for students below grade 5, but you never know what I will end up teaching in the future.

To let my kids relax for the last two days of me teaching them, I just let them play and build. One of my kids said to me "Ms.Alice, today is so fun!" Yep, that way they will miss me when I leave!

Pattaya

Two weekends I a row in July I headed to Pattaya which is supposed to be the scum of Thailand. What I actually found was that it is just a beach town that went astray. The first time I went to Pattaya was because the rest of my U of M homies were going. I was going to go to Sukkothai  that weekend, but decided that it wasn’t smart to go by myself. So I tagged along to Pattaya.

When we first got there we found out that we were staying at a hotel called AMBIANCE in the “Boyztown” District of Pattaya. At first it kind of sketched me out, but it turned out that it was actually a good place to stay. Boyztown is full of Ladyboys and male masseuses’. So it ended up being quite safe for 4 girls because no one was interested in us.

While in Pattaya I had 2 great runs in the mornings it was hot, therefore there were no dogs to chase me, also a saw quite a few dogs on leashes! For the remainder of my day on Saturday I walked around the main beach street and at night we met up with the guys from Campus 3 and went to the house they had rented. It was actually pretty fun. We made our way back to Walking Street (the bar district) but we had a hard time finding any open bars because there was an election going on and they aren’t allowed to serve alcohol during an election. After walking around for a while we stumbled upon a bar full of people and decided that they must have been serving drinks there. There was about 8 of us lined up at the seated bar for a couple of hours. We played Connect 4 against the bartender and she whooped us all, I was very impressed!

The next weekend was the marathon in Pattaya so I went back. It was a much different atmosphere that weekend because there was 10,000 runners taking over the city. As races go, Pattaya was a great host city. I didn’t end up feeling too good for the race but I still managed to run 1:30 for the half and they gave me 6000BHT prize money (200CAD) I was pretty pumped, the race winnings covered all of my expenses for the two weekends.

All together Pattaya did not live up to its negative reputation. Yes, there were some shading things going on with older men and young Thai women and Boys but I avoided it easily and ended up having a blast.

Chiang Rai

Wow, Chiang Rai was a cool place! I somehow messed up on my flight booking and it ended up costing me twice as much as it should have. Fortunately I had won a 50/50 draw at work that day. When we got the Chiang Rai I was still stressed out from the flight complications, but we managed to walk around and find a decent hotel.


During the day on Saturday I rented a mountain bike from a place called "Fat Free Bikes" so I knew it had to be good! The woman there ended up giving me a great bike/lock/helmet/tube repair kit and map for only 300 baht ($10). I spent the entire day riding in the mountains it was wonderful!

When I got back from my 6 hour ride, the other girls and I hopped on the back of pick-up truck and got taken to the coolest hotel you have ever seen! They were bamboo huts! It was so wild and the view was spectacular!

The hotal was called the Akha House and it only cost 200baht each for a night. It was an unbelievable place to stay. I thought the mosquitoes would bother me in the middle of the night, but it was no different than being at the cottage of something, I slept like a baby!

The next day the other girls went on a trek, but I had to go back to the airport early because of my messed up flights! On my way to the airport I got the tuktuk to stop at the White Temple which was a neat temple that was completely painted white with Spider-man and Batman painted on a mural on the inside, unfortunately you weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside!

It ended up being a great weekend minus the flight kerfuffle. 

Top Ten Weird Sights on Phet Kasem

Phet Kasem is the longest road in all of Thailand, reaching up to 1,274 km. Yes, that is the street we live on. There are ups and downs to living on such a busy street, but there are also some things that I have seen that have blown my mind quite a bit.

10. All these crazy Canadians walking around! Where we are living is not downtown Bangkok, we are actually more on the outskirts of town. So other than the 30 or so foreigners staying at Piya apartments there are not other Canadians, Tourists or white people and boy do we stand out!

9. No zoning laws: One thing that I had to get explained to me was the Bangkok was no zoning laws so that means that there can be a garbage yard, next to a school, next to a temple, next to market next to a car garage, next to beautiful house. People kind of just built anywhere they could and the result is a mish-mash of different sorts of places.

8. The rain: It is always raining on Phet Kasem at 5 pm. Even if it is clear when we leave school at 4:45 it will rain 15 minutes later as soon as we hit Phet Kasem. Also, the roads don't exactly drain that efficiently so the street floods super easily!

7. Motorbikes on the sidewalks: I don't know if it's the case everywhere in Bangkok, but sidewalks are not meant for walking (or running) there are motor bikes, bikes, pedestrians and so much more. Walking down the block to 7-11 you must watch where you are going at all times because no one is going to stop for you!

6. 7-11's: Every 300 meters (literally) on Phet Kasem there is a 7-11, yes it is convenient, a little over the top sometimes.

5. Phet Kasem Dogs: The dogs on PK of quite the interesting bunch! The nasty looking one closest to our 7-11 is constantly pregnant and the rest are quite territorial between 7pm and 6am (dark hours). I try to avoid running in those hours.

4. Grown up Mowgli: There is a man between the age of 18 and 30 that squats on the steps near our apartments looking starving and kind of sneaky. He is super skinny and shirtless with dreads and I can't help but think that is what The Jungle Book character is like when he grows up.

3. An elephant. Our residence is about 4 km from the city limits and sometimes I have run outside the city limits to get out of all the people. Probably about 5km from my apartment I saw a man walking an elephant on the side walk. It was one of those moments that I really wanted my camera, but didn't have it with me of course.

2. A rabbit. Not just any rabbit though, probably the largest rabbit in the world. It was the size of the perimeter of my arms together in a circle. When I saw it, I actually shrieked, I had never seen anything like it before. It was the fattest most gigantic rabbit ever. I'm sure it was a lovely supper for some local dogs.

1. Bus on fire: one morning I woke up early (5am) to do a workout across the the street at the South East Asia University and just as I walked out of our apartments, a bus sped by me with FLAMES coming out of the tail pipe! I was so startled and I look around to see if any one else saw it and lots of people did. The bus pulled over ahead with tonnes of smoke and fumes coming out of it! It was so crazy! The street smelled like burning oil for the rest of the day.

Alice's Thailand Top Tens

My Top Ten YouTube Tunes

My only source of music here is my iPod (with super old stuff on it) and YouTube videos so here is my list of my top ten most listened to songs on YouTube:

 

10. Princess Chelsea - The Cigarette Duet: I agree with the man in this video, I have this conversation sometimes with my friend here
 

9. Travelling - Paper Lions: Just a fun song!
 

8. The Honey Trees - To Be With You: Super cute song and video
 

7. The Sweet Serenades - Die Young: This is a fun song, I love duets, but the lyrics are a little depressing and the guy reminds me of my friend Scraggles
 

6. Tie: My Love by Sia/Bon Iver - I Can't Make You Love Me: Both horrible choices! Both songs make me depressed every time I listen. Probably the worst songs to listen to when you are away from the person you love. 
 

5. Sara Bareilles - Gonna Get Over You: This is a fun one that I get ready to in the morning
 

4. Mumford & Sons - Home: Probably the worst song I could listen to being thousands of miles away from home 
 

3.  Florence + The Machine - Breath Of Life: Intense pump-up song, it is the only reason I saw (and liked) the movie Snow White and the Huntsman
 

2. Ane Brun - Do You Remember: Ane Brun reminds me of my friend Megan in this video (I think it is the shoulder pads) I can't wait to see her again.
 

1. BOY - Little Numbers: I can't stand still during this song, my fave :)
 

*Honorable Mention: Fun.: Some Nights - I just found this song 3 days ago, I don't know if it makes the list yet, but I think I really like it 
 

Please stay tuned for my next list: Top ten funny things my students have said in Thailand

Koh Samed 2 - Same Same but different

I just got back from Koh Samed for the second time. It was a blast!(again) We got there Friday night around 11 and the logical thing to do would have been go to bed, so we did the exact opposite -we stayed up until 6am ;). I spent the weekend getting to know more teachers from campus 1 and 2, going for a lovely morning run, and just relaxing on the beach. During the past 8 weeks I have been to Samed twice, and it has been wonderful both times.

Ko Samed is an island about 3 hours away from Bangkok. One of my friends from U of Brandon pretty much planned the whole weekend for us, it was wonderful! If you get to Samed during the day you can take the ferry there, but since we always arrive at night we always have to take a special speed boat. The 10 pm speedboat ride is always a good time. I shared a room with a wonderful girl that I did not know before the weekend, and I think we made pretty good roomies.

Saturday morning I got up around 9 and did a run, it was much better than my run last time, being left alone by all the dogs :) I think the trick was to run in the heat. The dogs were not even interested in me.

I had a great weekend with friends, late night dance parties and just relaxing. When I go back to Winnipeg I will look back fondly at Koh Samed, especially on those -40 days!

Photo Cred: Joey Freedman

And yes that is a badass shark tattoo on my quad, just henna because I am so hard core, but it does look damn good!

Weekend in BKK: June 15-17

Yes, it's true, I spent another weekend in Bangkok. At least I had lot's of fun. On Friday night I went out with a group of U of W and BU student because it was BU's last  weekend of their placement. You see, the BU placement was only 2 months. For them it counts as practicum experience (which for us it doesn't) but they had to pay their whole way out here, meanwhile we did not. I do not know many people from Brandon, but I got a kick out of all 6 of the practicum students. I got to know some better than others, but they definitely made this trip more enjoyable!

So anyways, Friday night we went out on the down and spent the night enjoying each others company. Period.

Saturday morning I slept in (oops, I needed it) a large group of people went to the Grand Palace - which I still have not seen. So I slept until about 1 in the afternoon and got up and decided I was going to go on an epic walk. So I walked up to Big C, up to the next Big C and finally all the way to Mall BangKae (5-6km away). I went to a store called fresh mart, where you can buy North American foods like granola bars and rice cakes. Afterward, I walk home with all of my yummy new treats. All together, I ended up walking around for about 6 hours on Saturday and then going to bed around 9:30.

Sunday morning I was up at 4. I know, it's a god-awful time to wake up! I had to catch a cab to get to a race across the city. The race was at Suan Luang Rama IX Park which reminded me of Kildonan Park in Winnipeg. When I got I had to sign up for the race - 250 b ($7-8CAD). The race fee covers a cool singlet with a lion/dragon on it, food afterwards and awards. I didn't really know what to expect for a 14k race so I decided to try to run ~4:00km (it's only kms here no miles!) Naturally, I really wanted to catch the woman ahead of me, but she was going so fast! At the end of the race I went to go tell her that it was a good race, but it turns out the big bushy ponytail and slender shoulders actually belonged to a man. So I ended up winning. The bushy-hair man actually pushed me so hard!

After the race I waited around the park for awards and stuff and then hopped into a taxi to head for Central plaza Rama 9 Mall, which I thought would be very close, because they were both Rama 9.. wrong! It turns out there are tonnes of CentralPlaza Malls and I ended up seeing 3 of them Sunday morning until I actually found the right place. I was trying to find this mall to meet up with a girl in my class and her family. I originally thought the invite to go skating with the family was quite different but after thinking about it for a while, I agreed. I actually had so much fun! Her parents just wanted to meet me and let me have a great time with some of the students. This not something that I would do with students in Canada, meet up outside of school, but apparently it is normal here to have teacher/student interactions outside of school. Because the school is fairly competitive for grades, I was trying to be very conscious of bribery. At no point did I feel any sort of pressure to give information about school. The family was so nice, they asked me about Canada, they were impressed by my newly won trophy, and they just wanted to get to know me a little bit. It ended up being a super fun day, although skating would not be my activity of choice in Canada of Thailand it was really run to get to know my students better.

The second weekend I had in Bangkok was a blast! I saw very different parts from last time. I may stay one more weekend (July 6-8) to see the GPalace and the floating market, the national museum a lady boy show, or maybe I will head to the beach for another weekend. My time is ticking down quickly now, I must make every weekend count! XOXO talk soon!

Alice