home sweet Bangkok home

    We're not homeless anymore! Not that we were living in squalor out at the Golden Pearl, but it's a relief to finally have a place. After a week of balancing our teaching orientation with appointments to see endless listings, we finally decided on Le Premier 2 on Soi 59 in the Thong Lo area:

• 2 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms
• A third bathroom bathroom
• Maid's quarters (smaller room that could probably fit a double bed that we'll use for storage of luggage, visitors, etc)
• Open and large living + dining room
• 2 small balconies
• 16th floor
• 24 hour security
• Fitness room (it's a little weak but we're supposed to be getting deals on memberships for the fitness center directly behind our school)
• Outdoor pool, jacuzzi and sauna
• 20 min walk to the school, 5 min to the main road and 10 min to a sky train stop
• The price is right - the rent is covered by our housing stipend included in our salary. This was more difficult to find because the stipend was determined years ago, rent prices have been on the rise here and our school is right downtown where prices are higher on average anyway. Oh, and appaaarently teachers are paid more than doctors here, so the giant student debt thing wasn't flying with the plethora of real estate agents we dealt with.

My adulty-looking room.
Those pillows looked larger at the market.
God dammit.

     More pictures of the new place once we've spruced it up a touch. Canadiana courtesy of Momma Urban, which will soon be decorating my new classroom (N206, ya know, if you ever happen to drop by the school).
     Kels and I went to the Chitachuk (or Jitajuk, depends on with whom you are speaking with) market today. It's technically an outdoor massively massive market but most of the stalls are covered and it had a huge variety of things for sale- knick-knacks, furniture, incense, toiletries, clothing, food, jewelry, exotic animals (from ducks to peacocks) and odds and ends for the home. We were able to pick up some things we really needed for the new place (linens, towels etc) and will go back once we figure out the Bangkok lifestyle beyond our tourist-y experience so far.
   With the move and the settling in, guess who still knows veeery little about the courses she starts to teach in 3 days? 

   This girl!

   Icebreakers, icebreakers, icebreakers.

teaching schedule

Final Schedule

Grade 9 World Geography

Grade 10 World History

Grade 11 U.S. History*

Grade 11 English

Grade 12 English

Grade 12 British Literature   

     Whomever says that teaching is easy because you can just "use the textbook" can show themselves directly to the dark depths of hell.

PS - There's some missing.



*UPDATE* - That wasn't my finalized schedule. They worked some magic and switched out my U.S. History course and gave me another World Geography. Which is good because I can prep the same things (for the most part) for two classes, but also sucks because I have no geography experience whatsoever, and my schedule is still at max capacity.

The joys of teaching!

staff picture day

Ready for my close-up.

green tea soymilk, fresh cola Mentos, green melon #newthingstriedtoday

Green melon, peeled and unpeeled Rambutan

    

    Continued the condo hunt today but I'm going to keep mum on that for now as to not jinx some of the good luck that finally came our way. I am, however, going to brag about the phrases I was throwing around like I was some Thai pro (or you know, someone who has been here almost a week and really should know these extremely simple phrases).

   Pay attention those who plan to visit (all of you):

Sa-wat-dee + ka (If the speaker is female. Which I am. For men the suffix is + krap)   -   hi/hello

Khob-khun + ka  -    thank-you

  That was the extent of it. But I used them A LOT. Another I wrote down at our shortened version of Thai culture training (more to come on a weekend in September) is

Khor-tod + ka  -  sorry/excuse me

   A key phrase because I'm Canadian and apologize and exorbitant/unnecessary amount daily.

   Thai's seem to LOVE IT when you attempt to speak their language. They may also be laughing at me because I'm absolutely butchering it, but it's certainly a very different experience from the French-Canadians* in the Ottawa/Gatineau area. They are responsible for the cliché "if looks could kill"'s creation, which is something I experienced frequently when using a broken version of French (affectionately referred to as Franglais) back home.

   That's all for now, I'm off to the dinner/social scheduled for our orientation week. Tomorrow our pictures are being taken for the staff wall/yearbook/etc, we'll learn about the curriculum and I will finally hear my finalized schedule!



*Granted- French-Canadians have not always been treated well by the English-Canadian portion of the country. I don't mean to stereotype, this is not the case for all the French persons that I've attempted to communicate with... But it did happen to me A LOT.

Bangkok condo-hunting through trial & error

    Spent three and a half hours this morning and four hours this afternoon condo hunting with Ms. Swarup. After going bug-eyed looking through endless listings, emailing countless property agents and browsing maps with varying ratios of English to Thai labeling, we decided to set out on foot to check out properties on our own. This was recommended by the admin at our school. While the suggestion had its merits, it is still a very daunting and exhausting process for a pair who:

1) Are not at all familiar with the area of gigantic proportions.

2) Have never looked for a place to live in a city larger than Peterborough and Kingston, Ontario.

3) Have student loan payments haunting their consciouses.

4) Confuse office buildings with apartments at a surprising rate... The heat apparently affects our ability to think clearly. Should make for interesting lessons.

5) Include one person who is wondering what the Thai health system's policy is regarding the removal of hip flexors, and if their employer-provided health insurance plan will cover the procedure.

   The search was not in vain. While it had its discouraging moments, I know I at least returned to the hotel in a better mood than I did leaving it this morning. Walking the different neighbourhoods with each other and other new teachers in the afternoon gave us a better idea of what's out there, for what prices, and gave us a great feel of the different neighbourhoods. We're also now pretty much pros at navigating our way through crazy Bangkok traffic, and can even take our eyes off of those crackhead sidewalks once or twice every other block.

This is most definitely not the type of traffic
we navigated through, but I thought this picture
taken from Asoke sky train station stop looked
damn cool.

   Hopefully there will be a post in the near future about our recent lease-signing for our wicked condo. As for now we still get to enjoy the res-feel of being surrounded by our colleagues that are also new to the school at the good ol' Golden Pearl, all of whom I am very excited to be working alongside for the next two years. 

Last piece of news - my schedule was apparently set as of 2pm today! Although my Principal couldn't remember what it was by the time he mentioned it to me while the group of us were having drinks and dinner tonight (he joined the hunt with us after CPR training this afternoon, we've been very well taken care of), it's still a bit of a relief to hear about the progress. And, I have my very own classroom! Should be setting that baby up come Friday!
 

Can you spot them?

WORMS! Om nom nom. *
*Correction: These are apparently actually chicken intestines.
EVEN BETTER!

Didn't even recognize this Jamaican delicacy 
last time I stopped by - Chicken kicks.

Les amies autour du monde.

       The World Clocks littering my dashboard so I can keep track of my friends splattered across the globe....

London, England - Jenn teaching grade 4

Brussels, Belgium - Ali associate teaching at the International School of Brussels

Ottawa, Canada - Hoooome

Seoul, South Korea - Dicks teaching ESL to kindergarteners in a Hagwon

Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia - Mackey working on her Masters of Journalism at Griffith University & Jenna substitute teaching

<3

blog premier? debut? post #1

        As a good friend/yogini/frequent traveler informed me before I left for Bangkok, I "had to start a blog because you will be asked the same thing 85 000 times". I thought that was an approximate figure but she was more or less accurate.
     
     Our teacher orientation starts today and the past few days have been a whirlwind, so I thought I would catch you all up by utilizing one of my favourite tools - lists. 

      Seriously though. Love 'em. Organize my to-do lists by category. Add things on to them that I've already completed just to feel the satisfaction of crossing them off. But I digress... 

Things I've Learned Thus Far About...

Long-Ass Flights

1.) Never, ever read reviews online. People only take the energy to go online if enough rage has been generated to do so. Online reviews are the equivalent to looking up what that weird looking bump on your skin could possibly mean - it is ALWAYS cancer, etc. Ask trusted family and friends.

*Besides one power-trippy attendant in Chicago, can't really complain about my United Airlines experience, in case you were wondering.*

2.) Always check the seating chart - it's good to know whether you're getting on a plane that is so small you could head-check the ceiling if you took the time to do so (2 hour flight to Chicago) vs. feels like an airborne mini-city (13 hour flight to Tokyo).

Judging by my luck on the 13 hour flight, I saved a one-legged baby from certain death in a past life:

Helloooo exit row to myself!

3.) Do not strain your hip flexor by rushing in touch football, continuing to bike the 28 k round trip to work and running 2-4 times a week before taking a long-ass flight. You will hate yourself.

Bangkok Sidewalks:

1.) ALWAYS LOOK DOWN. They go up, down, and disappear without warning. Also, take frequent peaks behind you - motorcyclists are Ottawa's bicyclist equivalent.

2.) Don't plan on having a decent conversation whilst walking along said sidewalks. They're too narrow and it's awkward when you're always looking at the ground.

3.) They are not fun with a strained hip flexor.

Street Vendors:

1.) When in doubt about what that fried/grilled meat actually is, go with the safer-looking corn on the cob. Especially when one of the meats you recognize is most definitely fried worm on a stick. Baby steps.

This photo does *not* include the fried worms,
so stop looking

Hotels:

1.) Can be cheap AND awesome. The hotel they set us up here for the week is $30/night American.

The Golden Pearl in Bangkok

Our hotel's rooftop pool

One of the views from the rooftop pool

My studio-style room

We're here a lot

Teaching/Professionalism:

1a.) Be flexible. Not exactly a shocking revelation, but it's key. Learned the first day I got here what I originally thought I'd be teaching (9 World Geography, 10 World History, 11 and 12 English Grammar and 12 British Literature) is no more. Hopefully at least some of the 700+ pages of teaching resources I scanned will come in handy, but if not, they will some day. And I have a job. In Bangkok. Won't see me complaining.

*alsoIdidn'thaveatonoftimetoprepwiththefulltimejobandmoveandallsothisreallyworksoutinmyfavourheh*

1b.) Always, ALWAYS send a thank-you card. Apparently one of the reasons I secured my position a few months after the job fair in Kingston was because I left my interviewer a thank-you card when he didn't have a position for me to interview for. #mommaurbanraisedmeright

So much more to ramble on about, but this will do for now. Off to orientation in a couple hours - nose ring out, shoulders covered, DO NOT FALL ASLEEP.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday evening dinners Ottawa, promise to keep these shorter and sweeter in the future!