I'm leaving Chiang Rai in less than 2 days! This experience has had its really tough moments, but all in all, it was probably the most amazing thing I've done for myself. ever. I just can't believe I'm off. I'm really ready to move on, what lies ahead is so exciting. Yet I cannot deny that Chiang Rai has really had a serious impact on me and I will miss it - for all my complaining, I will miss it!
We finished teaching two weeks ago, so the last two weeks having been about soaking up everything that we had not done yet and doing everything one last time. I've just sent my two huge suitcases off to Bangkok and now all that I have left is my backpack! So surreal!
Anyway, I will miss it, but I am so so excited for my travels to Laos, Cambodia, Southern Thailand, and Hong Kong! My friend Marianne who has been teaching in Tha Wang Pa, a little town a few hours away from here is coming to meet me here and then we are off on our adventure!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Pu Chi Fah - birthday weekends!!
I've been to Pu Chi Fah, not once but twice in the past two weeks, that's how beautiful this spot is... The first time I went was with my friends Lisa and Kim who came up for my birthday.
This picture here is of Lisa and me as sun was rising. Lisa keeps a fantastic blog and her account of our weekend is perfect, so here's the link : http://expatescapades.blogspot.com/2009/02/phu-chee-fa-sea-of-fog.html
Anyway, Pu Chi Fah is not in any guide book, but is an extremely popular Thai destination. We were the only foreigners for miles - this is what we call the "farang show." Basically everyone stares at us and says "farang, farang, farang." Both times I've been, we've made friends with a group of young Thais camping next to us. Both times, they haven't spoken a word of English and both times we've managed to find a way to communicate. It is so rewarding when you can finally make yourself understood, or better yet when I understand what they've told me in Thai! I'm slowly understanding more and more... Just as I am leaving , of course! Anyway, we then woke up the next morning when it was still dark and hiked up the mountain to watch the sun rise, absolute bliss....
I can't think of a more unique birthday than my 25th on a mountain on the border of Thailand and Laos!
This picture here is of Lisa and me as sun was rising. Lisa keeps a fantastic blog and her account of our weekend is perfect, so here's the link : http://expatescapades.blogspot.com/2009/02/phu-chee-fa-sea-of-fog.html
This is Kim pointing to the sun.
I ended up spontaneously going back two weekends later for my roommate's birthday. We went us four Chiang Rai girls, Kristen, Jen, Alicia , and me in that order. I have a funny face in this picture because we were having very bad luck finding an adequate photographer, and I guess I was just not having it anymore :)
Anyway, Pu Chi Fah is not in any guide book, but is an extremely popular Thai destination. We were the only foreigners for miles - this is what we call the "farang show." Basically everyone stares at us and says "farang, farang, farang." Both times I've been, we've made friends with a group of young Thais camping next to us. Both times, they haven't spoken a word of English and both times we've managed to find a way to communicate. It is so rewarding when you can finally make yourself understood, or better yet when I understand what they've told me in Thai! I'm slowly understanding more and more... Just as I am leaving , of course! Anyway, we then woke up the next morning when it was still dark and hiked up the mountain to watch the sun rise, absolute bliss....
I can't think of a more unique birthday than my 25th on a mountain on the border of Thailand and Laos!
Videos are coming!!
When my family came to visit me for Christmas, my mother gave me a flip camera for me to start recording this experience via film. In the last few weeks, I've filmed my students talking to me or attempting to ;), and moments in class. I've been desperately trying to get these up here, but the Internet has not been cooperating at all! I'll keep trying and will eventually get them up here, stay tuned, because they are SO cute!!
Saving Face - losing face...?
One of the most striking aspects of Thai culture is "saving face." I might have mentioned this in some previous posts, but essentially, Thai people never really let their true emotions seep out from the facade. Many times, when they feel uncomfortable about anything, they just laugh it off. When I'm irritated for whatever reason (I can think of a million and one things that make me want to scream here), Thai people just laugh, making my irritation all the worse. Ok, so maybe I'm just an impatient westerner or farang. When I had been warned about this cultural difference, I had thought , well when in Rome do as the Romans, I'm sure there will never be any reason to show any anger, since I'll be in Thailand. But when I first arrived here, it became apparent to me that I'm just not as laid back as I thought! If something angers me, well I have a hard time holding it in. Not that I ever really lose it and scream, but I definitely let my frustration be known.
I've noticed lately that this is all starting to change. I'm improving on this regard, I'm learning how to save face more... I don't think I'll ever really be fully Thai though, I think some emotion is good, even necessary sometimes...
So you can imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago, I saw my coordinator lose face. My roommate and I announced to him that we were leaving Chiang Rai for good at the end of February. He had told us that we would be done teaching mid February, so we were free to leave at the end of the month. Apparently, this was a COMPLETE misunderstanding (how many more misunderstandings will I endure? ha), and he had been under the impression that we were just going to hang out in Chiang Rai during the entire month of March, just for the prestige of having foreign teachers. Clearly they don't really need us, they were just going to keep us on for the sake of having us, it's an appearance thing. So bizarre to me! As we very awkwardly told him that we had made plans to leave and couldn't stick around in March ( I mean, let's be honest here, there is no way I'm just sitting around for appearance sake when I have all of Southeast Asia to explore), I watched his face decompose and I saw emotion - EMOTION! He seemed very upset, my roommate and I had never seen anything like it. Luckily, I had to leave to teach immediately, but she had to stick around the office which she told me was highly uncomfortable.
Last week, as I was waiting to meet up with Bertrand and his friend for dinner, I was sitting in my usual spot in the open space of the night bazaar. I was quietly reading my book when I suddenly heard loud voices. I looked over and saw a woman speaking in a very high-pitched tone to another pointing her finger to her. Pointing is definitely not polite in Thailand. The screaming escalated until the woman got up and starting pulling at each other's hair and wound up in a full blown cat fight! I was flabbergasted.
So there you have it, even Thai people let the facade crumble down to expose their true characters. We are all human after all!
I've noticed lately that this is all starting to change. I'm improving on this regard, I'm learning how to save face more... I don't think I'll ever really be fully Thai though, I think some emotion is good, even necessary sometimes...
So you can imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago, I saw my coordinator lose face. My roommate and I announced to him that we were leaving Chiang Rai for good at the end of February. He had told us that we would be done teaching mid February, so we were free to leave at the end of the month. Apparently, this was a COMPLETE misunderstanding (how many more misunderstandings will I endure? ha), and he had been under the impression that we were just going to hang out in Chiang Rai during the entire month of March, just for the prestige of having foreign teachers. Clearly they don't really need us, they were just going to keep us on for the sake of having us, it's an appearance thing. So bizarre to me! As we very awkwardly told him that we had made plans to leave and couldn't stick around in March ( I mean, let's be honest here, there is no way I'm just sitting around for appearance sake when I have all of Southeast Asia to explore), I watched his face decompose and I saw emotion - EMOTION! He seemed very upset, my roommate and I had never seen anything like it. Luckily, I had to leave to teach immediately, but she had to stick around the office which she told me was highly uncomfortable.
Last week, as I was waiting to meet up with Bertrand and his friend for dinner, I was sitting in my usual spot in the open space of the night bazaar. I was quietly reading my book when I suddenly heard loud voices. I looked over and saw a woman speaking in a very high-pitched tone to another pointing her finger to her. Pointing is definitely not polite in Thailand. The screaming escalated until the woman got up and starting pulling at each other's hair and wound up in a full blown cat fight! I was flabbergasted.
So there you have it, even Thai people let the facade crumble down to expose their true characters. We are all human after all!
Monday, February 9, 2009
My goobye note to my school...
So my coordinator just announced to us that we needed to write a paragraph for the school newsletter about our "feelings" about our experience here. I just wrote this up really quickly, and although it's definitely quite cheesy, I thought it was worth sharing it with you. Despite the cheese, it's actually quite genuine..Oh and by the way, I don't think anyone will understand it, ha.
Being an English teacher at Damrong High School has been an incredible experience for me. I know my time here was brief and am sorry to be moving on so quickly, but I have enjoyed every moment of teaching here. I have loved getting to know the students and hope that I have had a bit of an impact on them. Every student here has the potential to become an excellent English speaker one day (some are already there), so I hope that my presence here has encouraged my students to not lose faith and to keep practicing and in turn one day to be very successful.
I would like to thank the school for inviting me here in Chiang Rai and by doing so, giving me the experience of a lifetime. Thanks to my time here as a teacher, I had the immense pleasure of getting to know the staff, my colleagues, and the students whose kind welcome I shall never forget. Moreover, I have also had unique access to learning and understanding Thai culture – one that has had a tremendous impact on me. Thank you so much for an unforgettable experience. Until the next time, chok dee.
Being an English teacher at Damrong High School has been an incredible experience for me. I know my time here was brief and am sorry to be moving on so quickly, but I have enjoyed every moment of teaching here. I have loved getting to know the students and hope that I have had a bit of an impact on them. Every student here has the potential to become an excellent English speaker one day (some are already there), so I hope that my presence here has encouraged my students to not lose faith and to keep practicing and in turn one day to be very successful.
I would like to thank the school for inviting me here in Chiang Rai and by doing so, giving me the experience of a lifetime. Thanks to my time here as a teacher, I had the immense pleasure of getting to know the staff, my colleagues, and the students whose kind welcome I shall never forget. Moreover, I have also had unique access to learning and understanding Thai culture – one that has had a tremendous impact on me. Thank you so much for an unforgettable experience. Until the next time, chok dee.
My weekend chez Monsieur et Madame FinLAND
This past weekend, I had an adventure unlike any of the others I've written about on this blog -- I did something that is completely foreign to my life here in Thailand.
Before coming here, my grandmother, who was quite nervous to see her little granddaughter venture across the world to teach English, reached out to the one person she knew in Bangkok, the Finnish ambassador's wife. I didn't think much of this contact, because it didn't seem real to me. That is until about a month ago when she spontaneously phoned me and insisted I come down to Bangkok for a visit. My mother told me I should absolutely take her up on this invite, I mean, when else will be invited to an ambassador's residence?
So when we found out rather last minute, as always, that we were going to have 6 days off, I decided to give Brigitta a call. Six days off meant I should definitely do something with that time, but as I'm coming to the end of my semester, I am also a bit travel weary, not a good sign since I will be living 6 weeks out of my backpack. Brigitta immediately invited me to come spend my days off with her. So I thought, I could definitely use a weekend of pampering, hot showers, and good (maybe western?) food.
I got on the bus on Wednesday night, with scrapes all over my legs, running on two hours of sleep from the previous night (my roommate and I decided to have a crazy night out since we didn't have to teach for another week) - anyway, I was definitely ready for some real comfort.
Real comfort doesn't even come close to what this place was like. It was absolute luxury by any standard, let alone my Chiang Rai standards. I arrived at dawn on Thursday where she showed me my room. I thought it was a mirage: a queen size bed, the pillows were soft, and the bathroom was huge with hot water of course. She insisted on serving me some biscuits as I must have been starving. I zoned out till noon when I had lunch with her of course served impeccably by the butler. After our afternoon tea where we of course ate only the best scones in all of Bangkok, as she said " out of this vvvooorld! " (oh she is from Austria, hence the accent), she took me to her favorite chic shops downtown.
The next day I spent by myself strolling around Bangkok, going to Jim Thompson and then meeting up with Phil and Waqas, my program coordinating people for lunch and the whole afternoon. I had such a nice time seeing them that I nearly missed high tea, where of course my scones were waiting for me.
That night, Mr and Mrs Finland hosted their friends for a dinner party. Everything was perfect. The pictures you see here are from that night. Everything from the table set, the menu, the flowers was impeccably planned. The life of an ambassadress is busier than you would imagine! I mean, she often times wakes up at 5 in the morning to do her hair (it takes her about one hour) so that she can be at some function by 8 in the morning, busy busy busy. It's one dinner party after the other!
I spent my last day there sitting at the pool devouring my book. These next two pictures are of the garden, which Brigitta takes huge pride in.
It was amazing, don't get me wrong, but it felt so funny having a butler wait on me. I mean, when in Rome do as the Romans. I enjoyed it and will definitely be going back. And Brigitta showed me a whole other side of Bangkok that without her I would have never seen! Plus, I'm sure that after living out of backpack for x amount of time, I'll be ready for some more real pampering... :)
Before coming here, my grandmother, who was quite nervous to see her little granddaughter venture across the world to teach English, reached out to the one person she knew in Bangkok, the Finnish ambassador's wife. I didn't think much of this contact, because it didn't seem real to me. That is until about a month ago when she spontaneously phoned me and insisted I come down to Bangkok for a visit. My mother told me I should absolutely take her up on this invite, I mean, when else will be invited to an ambassador's residence?
So when we found out rather last minute, as always, that we were going to have 6 days off, I decided to give Brigitta a call. Six days off meant I should definitely do something with that time, but as I'm coming to the end of my semester, I am also a bit travel weary, not a good sign since I will be living 6 weeks out of my backpack. Brigitta immediately invited me to come spend my days off with her. So I thought, I could definitely use a weekend of pampering, hot showers, and good (maybe western?) food.
I got on the bus on Wednesday night, with scrapes all over my legs, running on two hours of sleep from the previous night (my roommate and I decided to have a crazy night out since we didn't have to teach for another week) - anyway, I was definitely ready for some real comfort.
Real comfort doesn't even come close to what this place was like. It was absolute luxury by any standard, let alone my Chiang Rai standards. I arrived at dawn on Thursday where she showed me my room. I thought it was a mirage: a queen size bed, the pillows were soft, and the bathroom was huge with hot water of course. She insisted on serving me some biscuits as I must have been starving. I zoned out till noon when I had lunch with her of course served impeccably by the butler. After our afternoon tea where we of course ate only the best scones in all of Bangkok, as she said " out of this vvvooorld! " (oh she is from Austria, hence the accent), she took me to her favorite chic shops downtown.
The next day I spent by myself strolling around Bangkok, going to Jim Thompson and then meeting up with Phil and Waqas, my program coordinating people for lunch and the whole afternoon. I had such a nice time seeing them that I nearly missed high tea, where of course my scones were waiting for me.
That night, Mr and Mrs Finland hosted their friends for a dinner party. Everything was perfect. The pictures you see here are from that night. Everything from the table set, the menu, the flowers was impeccably planned. The life of an ambassadress is busier than you would imagine! I mean, she often times wakes up at 5 in the morning to do her hair (it takes her about one hour) so that she can be at some function by 8 in the morning, busy busy busy. It's one dinner party after the other!
To the left is a picture of my name tag and the delicious menu. I had wine and champagne!
The next day, we woke up early to do more shopping. We met her friend Mrs. Copland and invaded the Jim Thompson outlet. I went a little crazy there, but who can resist when everything is about 6 dollars!?
The next day, we woke up early to do more shopping. We met her friend Mrs. Copland and invaded the Jim Thompson outlet. I went a little crazy there, but who can resist when everything is about 6 dollars!?
We then headed to their favorite designer friend MarIIIIsa, who is really fantastic, but completely and utterly out of my price range despite it being Thailand. Finally, we had an incredible lunch at the Blue Elephant where of course Brigitta knew the owners.
I spent my last day there sitting at the pool devouring my book. These next two pictures are of the garden, which Brigitta takes huge pride in.
All in all, I had a wonderful time there, but I felt so utterly out of place. As their little houseguest, as they called me, I was also treated with the utmost respect. It was nice, but I almost felt a bit uncomfortable -like I was faking a life that is clearly not mine right now. I can do posh in Europe or the States, but in Thailand... it feels just so foreign to me. Even from my wardrobe... I had a very difficult time finding clothes to make myslef look appropriate. Of course, Brigitta was dressed to the nines, even when having breakfast. I felt like I stepped into a different universe, one in which I for the life of me couldn't quite relate to.
It was amazing, don't get me wrong, but it felt so funny having a butler wait on me. I mean, when in Rome do as the Romans. I enjoyed it and will definitely be going back. And Brigitta showed me a whole other side of Bangkok that without her I would have never seen! Plus, I'm sure that after living out of backpack for x amount of time, I'll be ready for some more real pampering... :)
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