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“Barbie” goes to School
It’s been nearly three months in Thailand and I’ve already got 3 solid weeks of teaching under my belt. Where has the time gone?!
It has been both exciting and equally exhausting. On my first day of work at St. Peter’s Thonburi, I didn’t know what to expect. I had no idea what ages I was teaching, or even what subjects. One day I was told I would be teaching Math to grades 4-6, and the next day I was told I would be teaching English, Math, and Science to Kindergarten. I was clueless, but I was as prepared as I could possibly be.
When I arrived at the school, I was grateful to find out that the students do not start until the following day (Phew!). I met some of the other foreign teachers, and my coordinator, Lin, who immediately took me to meet the Directors, who’s names I will never be able to pronounce. This is when I was referred to as “Barbie”, because of my blonde hair. You definitely stick out like a sore thumb being blonde in Thailand. All the girls want to touch it, and the boys want to take pictures with you as if you’re famous. It’s pretty funny.
After meeting the Directors, I was given a tour of the school. The school is a private Catholic school for Pre-K all the way through High School. The campus is pretty big and I actually find it to be a bit contradicting (as most things are in Thailand) because it is a very strange mix of modern and, well, the complete opposite. There’s a pretty impressive movie theater space for Sound Lab, a computer lab, a pool, and air conditioned teacher’s rooms, but yet the classrooms are very old school. Some have A/C, more do not. The lack of A/C in this heat is a fun one, but my body seems to be adjusting.
By the end of the day, I was finally given my schedule (yay!). I’m teaching grades 2-6. Mostly Math, a few English, 2 Health, and 2 Sound Labs. 24 classes per week. No curriculum, no lesson plans. And then came a big stack of about 20 text books. Woah.
The next day was the first official day of classes, and one that I will NEVER forget. It was hectic, yet comical to say the least. Here’s how it went:
Wake up at 6:30 am. Take an excessive amount of time to get ready. Put on my black skirt and blue button up collard shirt that I was provided. Hop in cab at 7:30. Pray that I survive the crazy drive and actually make it to school (speed limits supposedly exist, but are definitely not followed). Arrive at school at 7:45. Head straight to teachers room. Hope I can prep for the day. Nope. Get taken to meet Program Directors (…again). Stand still and listen to them speak Thai for a really long time. Copy the actions of everyone around me. Wish I knew what everyone was saying. Bow my head a few times. Wai a lot. Sweat a lot. Leave. Head back to the teachers room. Nope. Get stopped by more directors. Get thrown in front of a classroom. This is your P5 class. Introduce myself. “Hi everyone! How are you?! My name’s Teacher Nicole. I will be your new Math teacher. See you later!” Repeat for 10 more classes. Head back to teachers room. Prepare for my first period of the day in 10 minutes. P3 Intensive Math, so ages 7-8. Walk into class. 30 students. No Thai teacher. Write basic information on the board. My name is Teacher Nicole. I come from America. I like hiking. I like the beach. Go over basic rules with the class. Raise your hand. Listen to teacher. Stay seated. Speak English. Have fun. Have students make name tags. Laugh at some of their nicknames such as Tata, Shampoo, Poogun, Milk, Poo ping, etc. Have students write their own introductions. Ask them to share with the class. Think of the girl from Pitch Perfect as they all speak at a decibel well below hearing capacity. Give high fives. Say goodbye. Breathe. Head to next class. Repeat 4 more times. Collapse.
It has now been about a month since I began teaching, I have finally developed a routine and slowly but surely I am less exhausted each day. The pre-class jitters have seemed to disappear and I’ve become much more comfortable in front of a class full of unruly kids (whether they’re listening to me or not). Each day, I witness two completely different ends of the English spectrum. I have children who can’t even spell their names, and I have others who I can have completely normal conversations with about what they did over the weekend. I’m teaching in a country where the kids pass regardless of their grades. Most don’t care to learn, but I am going to do my absolute best to give them the motivation they need. I don’t know if I’ll succeed, but I sure as hell hope I do!

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Sawatdee ka from Bangkok!
Blogging. A lot harder to keep up with then I’d imagined. I’ve done so much and have so many things I could talk about so I apologize in advance for the lengthy post :) My girlfriends and I are back from our spontaneous island hopping trip and now living in…… Bangkok! I can’t believe it. So much has happened so fast in the three weeks since I finished my TESOL course and left Hua Hin. On April 23, we all graduated with our certifications and said goodbye to our new friends. It’s amazing the bonds that can be formed in such a short period of time, but I am grateful to have friends sprinkled throughout the entire country. Early the next morning, my agent transported a few of us via van to her office in Bangkok. Karen, Ashley, Jess, Courteney, and I were all placed with the same agent, so we took the ride together. Having the same agent means that our schools are located relatively close to each other. I was pleased to hear this because these just happen to be some of the girls I had gotten close with during my time in Hua Hin. We were also accompanied by two other girls from our program, Amy and Shalee. I had not met them until that day, but seems like they’ll fit in with us just fine!
When we arrived at our agent’s office, we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to be doing there. This is one thing I have learned while in Thailand - expect NOTHING. You have to be ok with NEVER really knowing what is going on at any given time. You just gotta roll with it. We ended up learning about our agency, meeting the people who work there, receiving our teaching contracts, taking tours of our schools, and then finally - the highly anticipated talk about accommodations! Karen, Ashley, Jess, Courteney, and I were all boarding a train the next evening to do some traveling in the islands before work began. Ideally, we were hoping to have our accommodations sorted out before then, so our agent showed us what our options were and took us to see one of them that day. The apartment complex was massive. It was a town of it’s own. It had about 10 apartment buildings, a pool, a gym, a bar, a restaurant, a laundromat, a supermarket, and more all right on it’s property. I was lost from the second we pulled in. However, it was located on the side of a major highway and just didn’t have that “Thailand feel” to it. It was also VERY far from our schools and not located conveniently near a BTS station (sky train). None of us were too keen on it, so we decided we would do some research of our own.
The next morning, we went apartment hunting and boy was that stressful, especially when you’re leaving the city in 6 hours! Jess and Courteney’s school is located more in the center of the city, so they split off and did their own hunting. The sisters and I (Karen and Ashley) wanted to live in the same building, and since Amy and Shalee’s schools were near ours they joined us on the apartment hunting journey too. We were trying to find something that everyone liked. I didn’t have any specific requests, as long as it was located conveniently to our schools and clean, I was happy to live there. But a pool and gym would be nice too ;) Sure enough, before the end of the day we had found our apartments. Luckily, the building had 5 available for us all to move into right away. What a relief that was! We were glad to have that squared away before our vacation. Our apartment building is located right next to the BTS station, and about a 10 minute cab drive from our schools…perfect! Oh, and it just happens to have a pool, a gym, and a view….winnnnnning!




At 7 pm we boarded our train to Chumphon. From there, we hopped on a bus that brought us to a ferry, which then took us to our first stop of the trip - the island of Koh Tao. Koh Tao is Thailand’s number one scuba diving destination, known as “scuba divers paradise”. It conducts more scuba diving courses than anywhere else in Asia. Since I didn’t have my diving license, I stuck with snorkeling which was still incredible! Aside from the diving, Koh Tao is blessed with some of Thailand’s most beautiful beaches. Katie, our other friend from the course met us here and stayed with us. Our bungalow was located on the beach, in the most perfect spot, for under $10 USD a night! You can’t beat that. After a few days in Koh Tao, we hopped on another ferry to the nearby island of Koh Phangan for a long weekend. Koh Phangan is famous for it’s wild and massive Full Moon Parties. It’s a strange juxtaposition where for a few days each month, the island has over 30,000 people crammed on one beach, painted in neon, partying their minds out, and then off they all go on the next boat, leaving the beaches and accommodations half empty. Of course we had to experience this for ourselves. The following day after the party, along with thousands of other hungover Full Moon Party go-ers, we boarded another ferry to Koh Samui for the week. The island is one Thailand’s largest and is known for it’s beautiful beaches and mountainous rain forests. It is a place where you can spend your holiday any way you’d like it. Kicked back and relaxed, or active and fast paced. We stayed in “beach huts” that were located right in the sand, and came with a beautiful view of the beach. Again, under $10 USD a night!




All in all, we had a great time exploring these three islands and made memories that will last a lifetime. I am so thankful for these girls from all over the world and everything we’ve been experiencing together. Now it’s time for the next chapter of our journey in Thailand….teaching. :)
xoxo
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A Month in Hua Hin
To say a lot has happened in the last month would be an understatement. I moved to Hua Hin with about 100 other “farangs” (thai word for westerners) to take a TESOL course. Hua Hin is a beach town about three hours south of Bangkok. The company I took the TESOL course through, XploreAsia, placed us in apartments that were located outside of the tourist area in a very cute Thai community. It was great because we were constantly surrounded by Thais and I was fortunate enough to meet a few who were very welcoming. One Thai family took my friend Katie and I in as if we were their own. They invited us for dinner and drinks, fed us five course meals, cut fresh fruit from their trees, and sent us home with breakfast for the next morning. They even showed up at our door step one morning with eggs. We were overwhelmed by their genuine kindness.
When we weren’t busy with class, we explored Hua Hin as much as we could and found a lot of beauty there. Three words... Phraya Nakhon Cave. This was my favorite place and it is absolutely breathtaking!! Pictures do no justice. If you are ever in Hua Hin I highly advise you take a trip to see natures creation. Part of the roof of the cave has collapsed, allowing sunlight and rain to get inside, making a beautiful little forest. There is also a temple situated right under the beams of sunlight that is so picturesque. Definitely a must see!
I have also been fortunate enough to be in Thailand for the countries biggest holiday known as Songkran. Songkran is the worlds largest, three day water festival that celebrates the Thai New Year. The entire country celebrates by having water gun fights, water balloon fights, and partying in any body of water. All businesses shut down and every where you go you are either splashed, sprayed, or dumped on with water. Driving your motorbike? No one cares... You’re getting SOAKED! It was awesome.
After Songkran it was time to get really serious with the TESOL course. Everyone was required to teach at an English camp and along with the final exam, this was a large portion of our grade. The first day of camp, I taught 7-10 year olds. The rest of the camp was kindergarten. Yikes! Kindergarten in Thaialdn starts at age 2. There was a lot of crying, puking, and diaper changes....Not so much my thing!
All in all, XploreAsia is an amazing company and their TESOL course did a really great job preparing us all to teach English. Everything from their teaching approach to their language and culture lessons were very useful and informative. Luckily, everyone in my class graduated from the course and received their certifications. We were also notified about our placements. I was hired in Bangkok with a few of my other girlfriends from the course. I will be teaching both Math and English at a private school to students age 7-12. While Bangkok was not my first choice, I’m open and ready to see what it has in store for me.
Work doesn’t begin until mid May so it’s off to the islands for 2 weeks!
xoxo
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Bangkok: The City of Angels
I have been in Thailand for a little over 2 weeks now. The first 10 days, my Mom and I did some traveling together. We were in Bangkok for 3 days, and headed south to the island of Koh Lanta for a week. It was beautiful there! Then we flew back to Bangkok, Mom went home, and I met up with all the other people in my program to begin this adventure. I had a great time with my Mom and I am glad that she came with me :)
I wanted to focus this post on Bangkok though, simply because it unlike anything I have ever seen before. Bangkok is CRAZY. Crazy beautiful, and just plain crazy. I don’t think there are enough adjectives to really describe it. They call it The City of Angels, but I’m not exactly sure why it has this name, since angels were certainly the last thing I saw while I was there.
The ride from the airport to the hotel was my first chance to observe my surroundings and I’m pretty sure my eyes were the size of my head as I tried to process the sensory overload that is this city. Also pretty sure that traffic laws are nonexistent. Motorbikes ride down sidewalks, zig zag through traffic at high speeds, cars come from every single direction, and pedestrians absolutely do NOT have the right of way!! At home, people flash their lights to say “go ahead”, but here, it means get out of the way...FAST!
I knew to expect a general uncleanliness in Bangkok, but wow. There are high rises over here, and dilapidated buildings over there. You go from one extreme to the next. I also had known that street food was pretty prevalent, but these people are actually set up every few feet! The famous Khao San Road just about quadrupled my idea of sensory overload. Here, you can buy just about anything..and I really mean anything! There were people everywhere. Street food everywhere. Vendors everywhere. Massage parlors. Hostels. Tuk Tuks. Bars galore. Street dancers. Tattoo Parlors. Just insane. There are no open container laws either, (I question if there are any laws here in Thailand) so you can take your drinks wherever your little heart desires.
They say that if you really want to get to know a country, you should visit its local markets. In Bangkok, and the rest of Thailand, that's certainly true. They are everywhere. There’s night markets, day markets, weekend markets, floating markets, and even railway markets. This is my favorite market I have visited so far. It is called the Maeklong Market and located about 45 minutes outside of Bangkok on operating railroad tracks. When the train comes through, the vendors fold in the awnings, move their products off the tracks, and step back as the train comes zooming by about a foot away from them! It was quite the site to see. One thing I’ve noticed in these markets (and the rest of Thailand for that matter) is that there's very little order to things. You may find barbecued chicken next to a shoe stall. Or, if you're lucky, you might find some sexy underwear for sale next to the seafood stand - very exotic.



Aside from all the madness, there are hundreds of beautiful temples in Bangkok. Dressing for these kinds of places is somewhat difficult because shoulders and knees cannot be exposed. When it’s 90+ degrees, you’d really like your freakin shoulders and knees exposed. My favorite temple we visited was The Grand Palace. It is one of the most famous in Bangkok. It consists of an array of temples, gardens, flowers, and colors. Every single inch is covered in either some bright colored glass mosaic or gold leaf. I couldn’t take enough pictures.



Bangkok really was the most incredible sensory experience I have ever had. Your sights shift from the street food stalls, to the lined faces of the street sellers, to the constant traffic jams of multicolored cars, to the bright colors of the tuk-tuks (a three wheeled motorcycle used as a taxi), to the majestic religious temples. You pass from the typical confusion of the big city to the inner peace of the people gathered to pray inside spiritual buildings. And the passage is really quite short. Sometimes, all it takes is a step over the threshold. It is truly an amazing contrast. Every corner of that place is a source for inspiration, and definitely a great spot for some people watching! However, I’m not really sure how many days one can bear Bangkok for. Five days was plenty for me! Now, the entire group and I (about 100+ people) have been in the beachside city of Hua Hin, which is about 3 hours south of Bangkok. This is where we will all spend the next month taking our TESOL course, so I will have a whole new city to explore and report back on :)
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One Way Ticket to Paradise
WOOHOO Christmas came early! After watching flight prices and researching airlines, my flight to Bangkok has officially been booked! I never knew how stressful it could be to book a one way flight across the world. The airlines charge double for one way tickets, but my mom and I found a way to make it work. A big thanks to my Mama for the early Christmas present :)
In the mean time, to prepare for this trip, I have been connecting with people who taught in Thailand and other foreign countries to find out all the information I can. One person I met with was an old co-worker of mine. He moved to Thailand to teach for 1 year and has been there for 3! He loves it and doesn't plan to come home any time soon. Luckily though, he was home for Thanksgiving and was more than willing to meet for dinner. My mom even got to join, which definitely put her at ease. She drilled him with questions.
I have also been following many blogs of teachers who are currently in Thailand teaching and went through the same program that I will be. I've been reading about their day to day experiences both in and outside of the classroom. I'm learning that I will most definitely have my work cut out for me while I'm there, but I am so ready!
Now, I'm just working my little butt off to save as much money as possible as I wait for the next 3 months to zoom on by. And a HUGE thank you to all who have supported me by sharing and donating to my fundraising page. It's such an incredible feeling to know I have so many people who believe in me! If you are reading this and you have not read my story or checked out my fundraising page, the link is below! Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays :)
www.gofundme.com/sendnicoleabroad
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"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
For many years, the idea of teaching in another country after graduating college danced in the back of my head. I went back and forth with this for years and after a lot of thought, I’ve finally decided to pursue that dream.
Having recently graduated college with no full time job yet, I can’t find a more perfect time for me to go. Nothing is holding me back. No more school, no full-time job, no mortgage, no commitments. It’s such an exhilarating feeling to know that the world is at your fingertips and you could go anywhere that you want, right NOW.
It was hard for me to decide where I wanted to go first. Thailand, Spain, Costa Rica, South Korea, Mexico, Dubai, …the options are endless. But after months of research, I finally took my first step and decided where I will begin my journey around the world….Thailand.
I’ve had a lot of mixed reactions when I tell people I’m going to be moving to another country for 5 months and teaching English. Some are supportive and excited for me (“You are going to have the time of your life!” “Now couldn’t be a better time for you to go!” “You are going to come back a new person!”) and others don’t really see why I would want to leave my family and friends and travel to another country alone (“Wait, you want to go WHERE?” “Shouldn’t you start your career and get a REAL job?” “You’re crazy!”). So I thought I would begin this blog by explaining why exactly I want to go to Thailand. Below are a few snippets from my application essay I had written:
It has long been a dream of mine to see the world and this summer I launched that dream by spending it in St. John, USVI working at VIERS, a science eco camp, as a volunteer counselor. It was wonderful to explore the island with the campers, seeing it through their eyes as we learned a lot about the native species and plants, etc. As my dream took shape, I discovered that it was actually a call to make a difference in the world. Since I just graduated college I realized that now was my time to take more action. Teaching English abroad is an opportunity to have a unique impact on the lives of children from a different country and culture. I want to share my passions with the children in Thailand to enhance their knowledge, curiosity and awareness of the English language and culture. Learning English will open up so many opportunities for these children. It can give them professional and educational opportunities they might not have had otherwise that will allow them to not only improve their own futures, but also the futures of their families and communities and I would be honored to help them along in their journey.
Sometimes your own world can seem so small, but traveling opens your eyes to just how big the world really is. I believe that people who travel have a passion for life and crave new experiences to teach us more about the world and ourselves. We travel to lose ourselves, and then to find ourselves. I’m ready to leave behind everything that is familiar to me and everything that makes me who I am. I’m ready to redefine myself, give my life a new meaning, and form a stronger confidence in who/what exactly I want to be. I strongly believe that you cannot truly find yourself unless you are pushed out of your comfort zone. I want to know entirely who I am and what I want in life, and I cannot think of a better way to get these answers than spending time in a country I have never been to with people I have never met. This program will also heighten my perspective on life. Living in a different country will allow me to see my own country and my own life from a new point of view. This experience will show me what I value too much and what I value too little. Although I am very grateful for what I have, I am sure there are many things that I take for granted by living in America. This experience will allow me to see which aspects of life I should take more time to appreciate as well as which ones I should improve.
My personal goal is to return home from this program with the satisfaction of having greatly contributed to the children in a foreign community. I anticipate a new outlook on life and I believe this program will do exactly that for me. I will learn things about the world, and myself, that I will have never learned otherwise. I know that when I return back to America, I will be more independent, more flexible, more humble, more open, more knowledgeable, more understanding, and an overall better person. It is time to dedicate my focus and energy towards serving and learning about others and myself at a deeper level. Every interaction encountered on this project would be an opportunity to learn and share which makes it a gift for me and also for those I meet - a lifelong benefit for all.
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