New Teacher Tribulations

I actually have a good excuse for not blogging this time. Being a teacher is definitely harder than it looks! I've been at it for eight days now, and I think I am figuring it out. Here is the situation. I have five classes, two seventh grade, two eighth grade and one ninth grade. Each grade has a textbook, American-made high school books made in part by national geographic. I was instructed to cover certain chapters in the next 20 weeks that make up the semester, and write up a mid-term and final to evaluate the kids. Sounds pretty doable. However, my first day on the job I realized what the challenges would be. The kids have various levels of English, some are nearly fluent but the majority can barely put together a sentence. The kids are also not very disciplined, but that is really no surprise, I remember being a little punk in school at that age. Finally, the real hurdle is that we are not allowed to fail anyone. This seems to be a part of the Thai culture, that everyone moves up no matter what, so they can eventually graduate and pretend to be educated and qualified for jobs. So, while I can give tests and homework as much as I want, the kids know they will pass no matter what. Luckily the kids haven't been exploiting this too much (yet) and seem at least mildly concerned with their grades.

My first day I was thrown right into things with nothing prepared and not even knowing what material to cover. After figuring out in the book where the kids left off, I instructed the kids to read the chapter and then held a discussion afterward, doing my best to make it interesting and engaging for the kids. I did this for a few days before I realized that A. The students can not understand the textbook, B. The student can't really understand me, and C. If no one understands, chaos ensues as everyone is bored and restless. After a couple of days of screaming over them and blank stares, I knew I needed a new system. I would like to be one of those model teachers you hear about who does not use a textbook and does experiments everyday and inspires the kids ect., but my lack of materials, prep-time, and the language barrier makes this a daunting, if not impossible, task. So I have switched to a system where I write them worksheets to be completed in class, with the answers coming from the book. This is working great so far. I do my best to make the questions understandable and easy, but at the same time forcing students to think a bit about the material, and not just copying sentences from the text. Students here are not taught critical thinking skills like we are in the States, and are used to copying and memorizing answers, even if they don't understand what they are memorizing. I hope to make them think about their answers at least a little, and not just be answer robots.

The other teachers have been encouraging. My first day everyone had the same advice: no stress. We know it is a flawed education system and we have to do our best to work under it. I think it must be easy to think you have to be a superhero and change the kids' lives and be self-critical when you fall short. I am starting to realize that just establishing a routine and learning to manage a class are my first steps, and I should worry about changing lives later.

Sorry if all the education talk bored you, I just need an outlet to spill all of my thoughts.

My days are filled with routine now, I wake up at 6:30, have a chicken and rice breakfast at a little restaurant on campus, get to work at 7:30. I teach an average of 5 classes a day, with maybe 3 hours of prep time. Lunch is buffet style provided by the school, eaten with the other teachers in my department. (Think mass produced vats of food. Usually its fairly good, but some days it's chopped up hot dogs covered in ketchup.) I get done at 4:30, head across the street to my school-provided apartment, change out of my work clothes, (who would have thought I would be a person who wears a tie everyday?) and go seek out some food. Bedtime is early nowadays, staying up past eleven is foolish. You need to be on your game and feeling good to teach, being tired or, god forbid, hungover is a recipe for misery.

I will have to fill you in on the rest later. Thanks for reading!

I got a REAL job!

 Great news, I'm employed full-time! It has been a wild couple of weeks, and it is really nice to be settling in to a permanent position. I was joined two weeks ago by one of my good friends from high school, Mr. Forrest Patterson (Patty). I had stayed with him in L.A. for a few days while I was getting my Thai visa, filling his head with talk about English jobs in Thailand. Two months later he bit the bullet and flew to Chiang Mai to join me. I felt bad in the beginning because I had told him how easy getting work would be, only to find the market in Chiang Mai was already swamped with teachers, since it is such a desirable place to live. A few days after he arrived we began sending out applications via email, looking for jobs that would take the both of us, no matter where in Thailand they were. One school called us back immediately, and said they need teachers right away, and that we should come in for an interview at their office in Bangkok. The offer sounded promising, so we made the decision to move to Bangkok (now affectionately referred to as The Kok) because it seemed like thats where the jobs were. We were both intimidated by the Kok's reputation as a giant, hectic, polluted mess, but were intrigued by high salaries, active nightlife, and general excitement and exoticness of the city. We made our decision and hopped on the 12 hour train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The ride was pleasant enough, but the train was one hour late and we were both losing our minds a bit at the end.

After two nights in a guest house we went in monday morning for the interview. We filled out paperwork, met with administrators, and gave on the spot teaching demonstrations. They gave us a third grade class and just said “Teach about any subject. Go.” I played a game involving names of body parts, and Patty was interrupted halfway through his lesson when they demanded he teach drama. This led to 5 minutes of getting kids to imitate animals, which was absolutely hilarious. Finally we met with the supervisor, who offer us positions. I took a position teaching science to 7-9^th grades, and Patty is teaching drama and math to K-3^rd. We both think the others person's job sounds much harder, so we are happy with what we got. We get a free place to live, a nice salary, and after three months a teaching visa and health insurance.

We were overjoyed with the offer, and thankful to stop job hunting and have some stability. We moved into some temporary housing today, with our permanent house not available until saturday. We start teaching tomorrow, 5 periods of 50 minutes per day, monday through friday. Not bad at all! I am going to have to brush up on my basis sciences, most notably chemistry and microbiology. I will have a Filipino aide to help me, and Patty will have a Thai. It is strange being thrust into a such a professional and important role, and starting with basically no training or guidance. But that's the best way to learn right?

The school is on the outskirts of Bangkok, and doesn't feel like it is in a mega-city. The school is huge, with 8500 students and almost 200 foreign teachers. We will be living on campus, which comes with pros and cons. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Job Number Two

I now have a second job! Kind of. I got hired to work for two weeks teaching one 3 hour class per day, 5 days a week. I wish it was for longer than two weeks, but I'm not picky. The school is called the Australia center, and it offers English classes and helps Thais study abroad in Australia. Teaching there has been really good, the classes only have at most five students, so I can really get to know them and work closely with each one everyday. It's nice to have work to do every morning to give my day some structure. I am also teaching at the same job at the Buddhist temple, which is also going well, apart from the fact I only teach there three hours a week. I'm building lots of experience and connections, so hopefully something good will come up when the schools reopen from break at the end of October.

I still hang out with Maht a lot, he seems to love taking me places and practicing his English. We went bowling last week with a friend of his from Bangkok, which was great fun. Those little Thai dudes can bowl! I only won one game out of about ten. Maht has also been taking me to various resturants around the city to try new food, which is good because when left to my own devices I usually just get Pad Thai where I know it's good. Last weekend Maht and I went on a business trip to a resort/experimental farm in the far north near the Burmese border. We stayed two nights, and Maht worked fixing equipment during the day, leaving me to do a little exploring and get some reading done. I guess the King and Queen of Thailand commissioned an agricultural study of this area because it is at high elevation in a cloud forest. Don't quote me on that. It was really beautiful, the mountains in Thailand are massive monoliths that jut out of the ground, forming extremely steep sides. These are covered in lush jungle vegetation, making them stunning to behold. I can see why this country is such of hub of international tourism.

A real teacher? 

It's nice having a class of only three students.

Australia Center Chiang Mai

My Boy Maht

I have been teaching the same group of adult students twice a week for three weeks now. On the first day, I struck up a conversation with a student named Maht before class. He speaks better English than most in the class and is the most eager to ask questions and learn new words. When I told him my name was Forest he said "Hmmmm... no. I will call you Bob." I've been Bob ever since. This is especially funny/random since that was my nickname from ages 1-5 of my childhood. Maht offered me a ride home after class and we've been tight ever since. He is 53, maybe 5 feet tall, married with a 15 year old son and three cats, one of which he says is perpetually sick. (I hear kitty-AIDS is going around) Maht loves to constantly barrage me with questions about how to say things in English, and is dead set on teaching me Thai. We have hung out a couple times outside of class, which involves him running errands for his industrial cleaning products business and me riding along. Translation errors run rampant, especially because he often confuses pronouns. He often says your when he means hers or his. This leads to "He was with your wife" instead of "He was with his wife". Hilarity ensues. Maht loves to laugh, but I never know what will set him off. I might drop what I consider a great joke and get no response, but when I talk about how I have trouble remembering Thai words he will start laughing his ass off. Last week we went to a popular student restaurant that specializes in "toast", which turned out to be steamed white bread that you dip into custard sauce. This dish is accompanied by a mug of hot milk. I could help but laugh when he called the place the "milk bar". We sat around around for a while spotting cute college girls and debating which ones were actually boys. It was some of the most fun I've had here.

Maht has been incredibly generous and friendly to me. He now comes and picks me up from my house before class, often takes me out to resturants, and never lets me pay for anything. It really is some of that famous Thai hospitality. Next week I am going with him on a business trip for a couple of days to a resort up near the Myanmar border. It will be nice to get out of the city and see some of the countryside.

A few days ago Maht took me and some of the others from class out to dinner. It was an interesting restaurant experience, much different from the style I am used to. Each person got a bowl of rice, and then took little samples of the six different dishes that were ordered for us to share. I like this method, you can try many things and don't have to eat things you don't like. While we were eating, one of the students asked how long I would be teaching at the school. I replied that I wasn't sure, if I found a full-time job I would probably have to quit. She said that all of the students wanted me to stay, and that they had been gossiping about what a good teacher I was. I think my heart actually melted. It felt so good to hear this after my frustrating job search, where I seemed to get the brush-off at every school I applied at. Huge ego and confidence boost. It's funny how a small compliment like that can totally restore your motivation and make all of your efforts seem like they are worth it. That girl just earned a A in my class.

Doi Suthep

Last week one of my students asked me where I had been in Chiang Mai. I had to admit, not had not seen much, only places reachable on the old shoelace express. When he asked where I would like to go, I said I would like to visit the temple on the mountain. I have a great view of the mountain that towers over Chiang Mai from my window, and you can't help but notice the golden structure peaking out from the dense foliage. The student then offered to take me there the next day. I never turn down an invitation unless I have to, so I agreed.

The temple (Doi Suthep) is about a eight mile drive up the mountain from town. At the top is a cluster of shops selling souvenirs, a great view of the city, and a huge staircase leading to the temple. The temple itself was massive, with elaborate shrines everywhere, chanting monks, and gawking tourists. My student gave me the tour and insisted that I participate in some ritual chanting, bowing and candle lighting. While I like many of the ideas behind Buddhism, such as quieting the mind, non-attachment, and compassion, here they seem to focus more on Buddha worship, rituals, karma, and superstitions. I can't complain though, overall I have experienced Thai people to be genuinely kind, honest and helpful.   

I wish I would have counted the steps. The dragons back is the handrail all the way up.

A dragon vomiting out four others. Awesome.

One of the shrines inside the temple.

I'm not a Buddhist, I just look like one on my blog. 

Teaching

Well,  I guess I'm a real paid teacher now. I'm only working a few hours a week, so the stress level is definitely low.  I teach a mix of college students and adults, all who come to classes after school/work and on weekends. I teach mostly out of a textbook, which makes things a lot easier than coming up with my own lesson plans. I couldn't ask for better students, they genuinely want to learn and are good about asking questions about new words and concepts.
I have recently started looking for more work, ideally I would like a full time position where they help me get one-year visa. So, the last couple of days I got dressed up in my sunday best and went school visiting. I quickly realized that I am just one in stream of English teachers that must make the rounds to these schools to apply for positions. Usually I was just made to fill out an application for and leave my CV with the secretary, without even meeting with the person in charge. A little frustrating, but maybe one of the seeds I planted will grow into a job offer. The good news is that I only need to work about 10 hours per week to support myself. Gotta love a rock bottom cost of living!

My Thai Momma

Did you see that picture of the Pad Thai from last week? Well, here's the story of who makes it. My first few days were spent scoping the local food scene. Some places nearby cater strictly to tourists, some strictly to locals, and some a mixture of both. I prefer the local places, but often the menus are only in Thai, forcing me to just point to someone's food and say "bring me that" These places are usually very busy too, and the workers sometimes seem annoyed having to cater to some random foreigner that got lost and wandered in. After some sampling and searching, I found my Thai momma. She runs a hole in the wall little restaurant with no real menu and random stuff just kind of scattered around her booth. She had those two magic words posted out front in English, "Pad Thai". That was enough to get me in the door. But what makes eating there great is the woman herself. She speaks exactly zero words of English, and my Thai ranges from "Hello, how are you?" to "uhhhh Pad Thai?" I went home after my first visit and looked up the word for delicious, which are "Aroy mak mak". I went back and ate there again, and she was pumped about how delicious I thought her food was. After that I was in. Now I go there everyday, and she is always excited to see me and have a laugh about how little we understand each other. She gives me extra rice and samples of whatever she has laying around. When she is cooking for someone else, she stops by my table first and gives me a scoop right from thier plate before she delivers it. I love it. Ice water is free and plentiful, which is essential when you are sweating buckets or try the wrong kind of pepper that all Thai eateries have as condinments.  She always seems happy and has that motherly instinct of making sure you are well fed to the point of bursting.  As long as she is around, I think I will be fine living in Thailand

Job!

I got a job! A friend of Mackenzie's called me and said she knew someone who was looking for an English teacher. After a short interview of me giving my best professional English teacher pitch, I was offered two classes a week as a trial, with more classes if they like my teaching. Sweet! The best part is that there is no contract to sign, I was told that if I found a better job than I could just quit, no problem. It pays $9.60 per hour, making it the highest paying job I've ever had! While this is slightly pathetic, keep in mind that I've never actually had a full time job. (must be doing something right in life)  The school is part of a Buddhist Temple, so some of the students will be monks, and I will be teaching barefoot. This will be interesting. Hopefully the job will be a good foot in the door to a full time position, either at this school or somewhere else. I start on Wednesday, wish me luck!

The Ping river. Definately reminds me of the Nung river in Apocalypse Now. 

Impressive cemetery at the temple.

Who wouldn't want to hire me?

I've been enjoying some nice sunsets through my window.

First Week

                                              My dorm-room style temporary accommodation.

Note the AC and Thai-teen pop decor on the door.

                                   Awesome view of the city and mountains out my window.

The next Red Bull?

"Maggot in love" blanket that came with the room.

Pad Thai done right, for $1.

What is the deal in Asia with inappropriate cartoons and brands? After seeing the sperm drink and the maggot in love blanket above, the question is, are these things made to be funny or not? Is it just a bad translation or a cultural difference I don't get? I WANT ANSWERS! 

First few days

It's been quite a whirlwind since I touched down on Friday. The trip itself went well, 30 hours of waiting around, watching movies, eating airplane food, and feeling like a bum sleeping in the Singapore airport. As I flew over Thailand, I noticed how much forest this country still has, 30-40% is intact (compare to 1-2% in El Salvador). When I landed, I was delightfully surprised that my checked backpack had made it through, I had put the odds of ever seeing it again around 50-50. My old high school friend Mackenzie met me at the airport, it was great to see a familiar face in such a foreign place. As we got into his car, I realized that I would be riding as passenger on the left side! Mind blowing. I couldn't help but stifle a scream as we turned onto the left side of busy streets. Driving through Chiang Mai brought one word to mind: pleasant. The air was clean, it wasn't too crowded, and it seemed fairly developed. Definitely a far cry from Ghana and El Salvador. Mackenzie's house was a really nice open air-type house on stilts in a community nicknamed the Farang (foreigner) Farm, since the ten or so other houses were occupied by long term expats. Later that day, Mackenzie and I piled onto his small motorcycle to zip out to the the farm/school he works at. Weaving through traffic on that thing scared the bajeezus out of me, but Mackenzie reassured me that I would be driving one in a matter of weeks. Not so sure about that. The farm is run by an NGO called Need Burma that trains students from the troubled neighboring country in sustainable farming techniques. It is a great program but lacks funding, google it and donate if you want to help out a good cause.

After a couple of days at Mackenzie's house it was time to set off on my own in city center. The "old city" in Chiang Mai is a one square kilometer area in the middle of town that is surrounded by a moat and some reconstructed walls. Definitely has a medieval feel to it. After a night in a small guesthouse, it was time to look for some long term housing. I found some leads on the internet and started walking around town, asking at any place that had the word "monthly" written on it. After a few decent finds, I was about to call it a day when I decided to pop into one last place, a four story student housing block. I found a couple of guys my age who spoke about 5 words of English between them. Luckily they understood "one month" and showed me a room on the top floor. The room had a large picture window overlooking the mountains and the city, it's own bathroom, AC, and the rent, including utilities was $100 a month. Sold. I called up Mackenzie (who speaks what sounds to me like excellent Thai) to help me set it up, and moved right in. 

Ahhh... a permanent place to live. Or at least for a couple months. since then I have been researching language schools in the area and plotting my plan of attack. Some sources say finding work should be easy and others report a market saturated by teachers. The only way to find out is to try. 

Backstory

How did I end up here? What makes a person move to Asia with no job, housing, or future lined up? Well, it all started about 8 months ago at 4AM in a hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica. I had finished up a little tour of the country with my mom, and was trying to pull an all nighter so i could sleep on the 20 hour bus ride back to El Salvador. In the common room, I started talking to a guy who had taught English in Japan, and then science in Korea. As he regaled me with tales of cultural immersion, high salaries, and a generally strange and adventurous lifestyle, I knew this was the next step. The best part? The only qualifications necessary were a degree and completion of a month long training course. No master's, no teaching certificate, no experience, no foreign language required.  Teach English? I am already on expert on the subject. I'm fluent! Sign me up.
So after the Peace Corps gave me the boot early due to security concerns, I signed up for a month long TEFL course in Guadalajara, Mexico. It turned out to be a great decision, I learned a lot about teaching and learning theory. I even got to teach 10 real classes in a language school, with observers giving me feedback. Probably the best thing I learned was confidence in my abilities. I could hold the class's attention, make it fun, and sometimes they actually learned! Now I was ready to live and work in any country in need of English teachers.
My first thought was Asia. I had always wanted to go, it sounded exotic, delicious, foreign enough to give me that feeling of awe I have become addicted to. That feeling you get when you see something so different, confusing, new, or just plain weird that your brain reels and and your mind is mystified. I just can't get enough of that. But which Asian county to visit? Japan and Korea seemed tempting with their high salaries. However, with a little bit of prodding from a friend (thanks Christine!) I turned my attention to Thailand. Tigers, elephants, monkeys, beaches, jungles, mountains, parties, temples, Buddhist, Aussies, and the food. That last one was probably the kicker. Have you ever had Thai food? Of course you have, because it s freaking delicious. I am convinced Thai cooks are the masters of spice and flavor, always delighting your palate with a rainbow of sour, sweet, spicy, and salty that just leave you wanting more and wondering how you ever ate anything else. All of that is available is available from street vendors for $1 a bowl you say? Sold. I'm there.
So after a half-hearted job hunt this summer and some soul searching, I realized that even if I landed a that sweet dream job in the states, there would be that voice in my mind, always whispering "Yeah, this is nice, but what if you had gone Thailand?" So I pulled the trigger, bought a non-refundable one-way ticket, and started packing. I knew I could not leave this stone unturned.

Welcome to the Land of Smiles

How can you not like somewhere nicknamed the Land of Smiles? A country where the majority is Buddhist? Where peace reigns, conflict is avoided at all costs, and people strive to preserve their traditions while hurtling toward modernity? Where tourists come to visit and end up staying? After hearing so many rave reviews from other travelers, I knew that I would have to see this warlock for myself. Why not? Jobs aren't exactly growing on trees in the states, and I seem to be better at living in strange developing countries than in my homeland anyway.  So welcome, everyone, to the third installment of my travel blog writing! I have been blessed with the opportunity to see some interesting corners of the world, and I feel that the least I can do is provide some adventurous anecdotes to those back home who have supported me through the years. So thank you, and enjoy!