Pink polos, tips to the sky and we are good to go!!!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Mastering Clothes
My group of students, mastering clothes. Notice the models with all the clothes on, each team had to 'dress' them when I called out a clothing item.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Camping. . .in Thailand???
As many of you know, I am not a big fan of camping and Ryan and I rarely camp at home, I mean NEVER camp. [insert Ryan's comment: actually there was that one time we almost got swept down the river, but that's another story...]. So, how we found ourselves in a two-person tent in Northern Thailand remains a mystery to me!
We were asked by Travel to Teach to assist with an English Camp from Friday to Saturday for high school students in Udon Thani (about 45 minutes away). We were picked up on Friday morning at 7 a.m. and taken to the school (beautiful and big) then up to the mountains to the camp site. We were then told to take the students on a 'hike' (again, we are wondering what are we doing???). Envision Ryan and I, soaked with sweat, sunscreen and mosquito repellent, with 7 other 'native English speakers', 150 kids and about 15 Thai teachers all hiking in the heat of the day when the sun is at it's strongest from noon to 2:00...classic. I'm sure you can all see the crazy looks we were giving each other as we were sweating and huffing and puffing our way through the 'forest'. The first day we were a bit confused as it seemed like they only spoke to the students in Thai...we thought this odd since this was called "English Camp" !! After an adult beverage and some good laughs with our Belgian friends (Lotta and Katrain) we were ready to make this the best we could. Ryan and Katrain were asked to the be MC's for the campfire and welcome the director of the school and the camp. After introductions, each group of schoolchildren performed in English for the entire camp (8 performances in all!). There were a group of students (all young boys) that they call openly 'lady boys', basically they are openly gay and feminine young boys. We were pleasantly surprised at the support and openness that the Thai culture provides them. They taught me some great dance moves to an English hip hop song [insert Ryan's comment: Julie taught them the Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" dance]. Ryan taught the students 'the wave' and asked each one of them 'what is your name' to which they respond with a long-hard-to-pronounce Thai name and then they say 'my nickname is. . .'. He had them all laughing all night long. Being the 'married couple' we got our own little tent. .. right next to all the kids and woke up to a whistle blowing for exercises at 5:30 a.m. :)
The second day of camp was really fun and encouraging. They broke the students into 5 groups and then rotated to different stations. I had the 'dressing' station to which I taught the students 'shirt', 'shorts', 'flip flops' etc. I really worked on their pronunciation as the 'sh' and 'fl' sounds aren't in their language and seem to be very challenging. Ryan was in charge of a scavenger hunt which was fun for the first 2 rounds and then he was running in an all out sweat around camp (again in the heat and high sun) the winners all got ice-creams as their reward! The director of the camp cried when we said good bye, she was so thrilled to have us help and she was so warm. We learned alot this weekend and laughed so much, we were glad that we went and felt like we made a difference. [insert Ryan's comment: Julie has maintained her cover as a 'vegetarian' quite well and despite my occasional slip up, people believe she has been one for years].
We were asked by Travel to Teach to assist with an English Camp from Friday to Saturday for high school students in Udon Thani (about 45 minutes away). We were picked up on Friday morning at 7 a.m. and taken to the school (beautiful and big) then up to the mountains to the camp site. We were then told to take the students on a 'hike' (again, we are wondering what are we doing???). Envision Ryan and I, soaked with sweat, sunscreen and mosquito repellent, with 7 other 'native English speakers', 150 kids and about 15 Thai teachers all hiking in the heat of the day when the sun is at it's strongest from noon to 2:00...classic. I'm sure you can all see the crazy looks we were giving each other as we were sweating and huffing and puffing our way through the 'forest'. The first day we were a bit confused as it seemed like they only spoke to the students in Thai...we thought this odd since this was called "English Camp" !! After an adult beverage and some good laughs with our Belgian friends (Lotta and Katrain) we were ready to make this the best we could. Ryan and Katrain were asked to the be MC's for the campfire and welcome the director of the school and the camp. After introductions, each group of schoolchildren performed in English for the entire camp (8 performances in all!). There were a group of students (all young boys) that they call openly 'lady boys', basically they are openly gay and feminine young boys. We were pleasantly surprised at the support and openness that the Thai culture provides them. They taught me some great dance moves to an English hip hop song [insert Ryan's comment: Julie taught them the Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" dance]. Ryan taught the students 'the wave' and asked each one of them 'what is your name' to which they respond with a long-hard-to-pronounce Thai name and then they say 'my nickname is. . .'. He had them all laughing all night long. Being the 'married couple' we got our own little tent. .. right next to all the kids and woke up to a whistle blowing for exercises at 5:30 a.m. :)
The second day of camp was really fun and encouraging. They broke the students into 5 groups and then rotated to different stations. I had the 'dressing' station to which I taught the students 'shirt', 'shorts', 'flip flops' etc. I really worked on their pronunciation as the 'sh' and 'fl' sounds aren't in their language and seem to be very challenging. Ryan was in charge of a scavenger hunt which was fun for the first 2 rounds and then he was running in an all out sweat around camp (again in the heat and high sun) the winners all got ice-creams as their reward! The director of the camp cried when we said good bye, she was so thrilled to have us help and she was so warm. We learned alot this weekend and laughed so much, we were glad that we went and felt like we made a difference. [insert Ryan's comment: Julie has maintained her cover as a 'vegetarian' quite well and despite my occasional slip up, people believe she has been one for years].
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Children of Thailand. . .
Travel to Teach offers a variety of service outlets during our time here; one of which is helping at an orphanage. Yesterday was our turn to help out. . . or rather play with the children. We were thinking of all the little ones in our family (Jackson, Hudson, Madison and Mia) as these children were all so little (the youngest was 12 months and the oldest 2 years) and so needy. We walked into a small room and were immediately greeted by 12 children who were all looking at us as if we were from another planet...we quickly brought out their toys and they were off to the races...playing, fighting, yelling and screaming. After a while it was time to feed them. The four volunteers were handed cups with a rice pudding like substance in it and a spoon; instead of feeding them in an orderly fashion, it was first come first serve type of operation. No high chairs, no bibs, just a bowl of rice pudding and a spoon. Initally, we were concerned that not all of the children got food...however we were reassured once we looked at each face and saw traces of rice pudding on each one!! Side note: they do not hold the children to feed him/her (which seemed rare) the adult sits indian style and places the baby's head upside down on the adults knees...very awkward, but it seems to work for them.
Last night we were teaching the monks again. We really enjoy our time at the Wat ("temple"). There were only 5 monks last night and only 2 of them spoke English well, but it is always entertaining. They are so curious and inquisitive and always seem to ask intelligent, thoughtful questions. The oldest monk last night was 18 years old, the youngest was 14 years old. We were told that the older monks were "in the forest, doing some meditation."
Last night Julie and I had date night...because we just don't get enough time to ourselves :). We were reflecting on our two weeks in Nong Khai saying that it felt longer, and yet when we leave it will be too soon. We really enjoy the people we have met and the places we have seen thus far. More volunteers arrive this week and a few are leaving so it is a constant welcoming/good bye party. Hello!! to all of you back home. keep your comments and emails coming, we love to read them!!
Last night we were teaching the monks again. We really enjoy our time at the Wat ("temple"). There were only 5 monks last night and only 2 of them spoke English well, but it is always entertaining. They are so curious and inquisitive and always seem to ask intelligent, thoughtful questions. The oldest monk last night was 18 years old, the youngest was 14 years old. We were told that the older monks were "in the forest, doing some meditation."
Last night Julie and I had date night...because we just don't get enough time to ourselves :). We were reflecting on our two weeks in Nong Khai saying that it felt longer, and yet when we leave it will be too soon. We really enjoy the people we have met and the places we have seen thus far. More volunteers arrive this week and a few are leaving so it is a constant welcoming/good bye party. Hello!! to all of you back home. keep your comments and emails coming, we love to read them!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
7 Strangers Picked to Live in a House. . .
If you scroll down to the beginning of our blog you will see a photo of the outside of our dorm/house. We will try to post some photos of the inside of the house as well. We do live with 7 strangers. . . all volunteers with Travel to Teach. We are at the Meechai dorm which as we have learned is a little bigger, a little nicer and a little quieter than the other dorm. Ryan and I both like our dorm and the fact that we have our own room is HUGE!!! We also have the internet/computer room here so we like that too! Our roomies include: 2 women (23 and 24 years old) from Belgium, one is a speach therapist and the other works with at-risk youth, 1 Canadian guy (19 years old) who is here in between studies and trying to 'find out what he wants to do', 1 Swedish guy (20 years old) who has been here for several months and 1 Austrialian guy (20 years old) who is studing Buddism and is now traveling during the week to another city to teach. . . then there is the 'married American couple'. . . us! We have a very good mix of cultures and backgrounds and try to learn from each other. We tend to spend a lot of time getting to know the 2 Belgian women as they came together as well. The other dorm has a mix of Germans, Austrailians, Dutch, Brits, and Canadians. . . a very diverse group.
We have come to learn to expect the unexpected in Thailand and always bring your camera. On Sunday, we went to pick up our laundry at the house 2 doors down (laundrymat of sorts) where they wash them, hang them and iron the clothes for us for under $1 for 3 loads (many of you know how often we tend to do laundry so this is a huge treat to drop it off and have someone else do it so inexpensively!). We are walking out with our bundles of clothes when the owner stops us and asks us to stay. . . we are soon whisked into action behind a table that is crowded with the neighborhood children. We soon figure out that this is their local 'Children's Day' celebration and they wanted the 'farangs' (foreigners) to hand out the cookies to the children. We smile (not sure what we have gotten ourselves into) and hand each child a bag of cookies and chips after they polietly wai (the hello in Thai, made by bringing your two hands in a prayer position up to your mouth with a bow of the head). . . it was so cute and touching. After this BIG community celebration (there were probably 30 kids) we picked up our bags of folded laundry and walked home with smiles on our faces. We were sad that we didn't bring our camera to pick up our laundry as it would have made for some great pictures... now we know. . . always bring the camera!
Note: Scroll down to see new photos on old posts!
We have come to learn to expect the unexpected in Thailand and always bring your camera. On Sunday, we went to pick up our laundry at the house 2 doors down (laundrymat of sorts) where they wash them, hang them and iron the clothes for us for under $1 for 3 loads (many of you know how often we tend to do laundry so this is a huge treat to drop it off and have someone else do it so inexpensively!). We are walking out with our bundles of clothes when the owner stops us and asks us to stay. . . we are soon whisked into action behind a table that is crowded with the neighborhood children. We soon figure out that this is their local 'Children's Day' celebration and they wanted the 'farangs' (foreigners) to hand out the cookies to the children. We smile (not sure what we have gotten ourselves into) and hand each child a bag of cookies and chips after they polietly wai (the hello in Thai, made by bringing your two hands in a prayer position up to your mouth with a bow of the head). . . it was so cute and touching. After this BIG community celebration (there were probably 30 kids) we picked up our bags of folded laundry and walked home with smiles on our faces. We were sad that we didn't bring our camera to pick up our laundry as it would have made for some great pictures... now we know. . . always bring the camera!
Note: Scroll down to see new photos on old posts!
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