Holidays Part 1

Schools out and its time to do some actual traveling. Here's the thing people who work abroad aren't travelling so please don't say you are because your not!!

•Arrived in Chang mai and met Kaye, Bustin and Larisa. As you would expect I had a list of things I wanted to do and pretty much did all of it! Hit a few Temples followed by lunch in UN Irish bar. After awhile we found the prison massage place. This is were prisoners with sentences under six months train in Thai massage. It was my first one and she didn't hold back, from my facial expression I was clearly shocked at what this women was attempting to do to me! Painful but good. Quick change and than it was a night safari drive near the zoo! This was okay, highlight being so close to giraffes. These were so massive and we were at foot level. Bedtime as a long drive awaited us in the morning. 

•Rant - Getting asked the same boring travel questions time and time again. Granted its polite but seriously someone change it up! "Where are you from?" should be replaced with "have you ever shot someone?" or something!

•Pai - I wasn't to wise about Pai but I am delighted the girls knew about it. We decided to drive by bike to Pai. After some Thai inefficiency (we rented bikes and Bustins bike is literally gone with his bag in it, apparently the bike went to get fixed) we got going but before we left the city we got a little bit lost!

The roads to Pai are amazing, dangerous, fun, challenging and very twisty. I had Kaye on the back of mine which meant I had to concentrate especially when it was raining heavily! After the bike incident last month I really didn't want to crash! We got lucky and had lunch at a really well built resort.

With 30km to go I hit a pothole that blew the back tyre out! This is bad news because if the tyre comes off the rim the bike would not be drivable. Kaye hoped on Kayes bike and I painfully nursed my bike the rest of the way!!

Pai reminds me of a small beach village except there is no beach!! We ate a serious amount of food, I was having two main courses for lunch and dinner. The great thing is Kaye is one for a wee bit of flamboyance so I was happily drinking more wine than normal and we ate a few times in trip advisors number one rated restaurant, ..Witches... We rented bikes and saw a waterfall, had a break in some hot springs at a much cheaper rate because we live in Thailand and thanks to Larisa's impressive navigation skills reached the viewing point.

•Zip lining - Keeping to our adventurous schedule we got the van back and made it for zip lining the next day. It was good but not better than Costa Rica. The abseiling made me pretty nervous as I'm no fan of heights! Kaye departed which was a pity, easy person to travel with who has the balance between having a laugh and being serious. Met a solid character from South Africa and Larisa and I went out for Mexican and a few beers in Warm Up - serious music but too packed.

•Next day was a full day of cooking on Sammy's farm, great set up, different, fun, hammocks! Following day Dante Elephant camp were I got to feed, ride bareback and wash some very large elephants! The trainer gave me the largest female, describing her as "she's a little funny"!! Now I have been on horses, donkeys, and camels but this was extremely difficult mainly because my 3 tonne elephant would not stop moving its head which I'm on (no rope or anything like that) and bending down which nearly caused me to fall off over its head!! I was using my legs so much as grip that even three days after I'm very stiff from using muscles that were idle!! Awesome day, great pictures and an elephant stood on a woman's foot, she is okay!

•On the last day Larisa and I got bikes And had a great drive up to Doi ...... temple. The temple as with most "seen one, seen them all"! Good few steps up. After that I said goodbye to a great hostel and a very helpful Pear!! Larisa went to Chang Rai and I went to Bangkok. I would recommend Chang Mai!

•Bangkok/Kanchanburi - Eventually I got to BBK after some stupid logistics on my part. The mission was to make the United vs City game but that never happened! Thankfully. I knew some of the crew were out and despite being wrecked I felt it necessary to join them especially as I may not see certain people again. Turned out to be a good night. At one point I bought shoes so we could get into a club. Worth it. Music in Thailand is amazing! Good night. Kanchanaburi has great history and in fairness its railway museum and bridge are pretty interesting. Basically I rented a bike and drove to the two museums, cemetery and the famous bridge. I was also looking for a Giant tree but after 2hours I didn't find it, I was close, I did come across a random temple carved into the mountain.

•Bangkok - Got back,  went to the cinema and than we got on it........lost phone = gutted, good result in the match. Following day I was off to The Thailand Open 2013 in the Impact Arena with one of the girls. I have never been to an official ATP tour event and it didn't disappoint. The seats were very good and some top players played. Had some beers and got two matching t-shirts which wait for it... had our nicknames on the back of them. If that's not cool than what is, obviously meant as a joke!! Pretty much laughed for the whole thing! The adventure to get there was pretty interesting and unexpected!! Google maps said it was 15mins away when in fact it was closer to an hour away...time was very tight so we eventually got two bike taxis to the arena and made it for the second set of the first match, relief!! Interesting taxi ride back and a few drinks with the others some of which were crazy drunk.

That pretty much ends part 1 of the my holidays as its time to head to training and than on to Krabi by bus that should take 11 hours!! Funds are dramatically being reduced!!

End of Semester 1

Media kids (my agency) say you are meant to do something at morning ceremony. Until two weeks ago we hadn't done anything. The English director asked me to teach the students a question and answer during morning ceremony to the entire school with all the faculty members. I don't mind talking in front of large groups but I knew the kids wouldn't respond well and felt I was walking up to be road kill! I went with "how was your day?", "My day was fine". Simple, short and in fairness the response was better than expected. However I did have students asking me the question all day!!!

For the end of semester I decided to do a project instead of a test. All 19 classes would do the same project with the winning team getting Irish gifts and certificates of academic achievement which I would arrange with my Mother and the school! Many students are putting in significant effort and it has caught the attention of numerous faculty members. Mam has sent the gifts and I hope they are good enough. Kind of feel under pressure! The project was to compare the difference between Ireland and Thailand and include any references used. The students had a choice of PowerPoint, poster, report, video and anything else they could think of!!

The deadline came and I was overwhelmed by the amount and quality of some projects. Naturally there was some poor ones that somehow thought I was from Iceland!! It was very difficult to pick a winning team and I ended up picking two runners up as well. The winning team of two did a report, a video and a booklet. The marking criteria considered eight categories so you can imagine the time it took to input the data to excel!!

On deadline day I was swamped, students were emailing me projects, handing me CD's/posters/reports and even when I was on my way home there was projects on my bike!! I had given a deadline extension due to the workload the kids have and that caused me to be under pressure to get the grading done as I was on holidays the next day. I announced the winner and runners up on stage at morning ceremony in front of 2,400 student's! I tried some Thai that went down okay but needed clarification by the English director. I hope the students liked their gifts. I was later told no English teacher had ever done a project before! My co-teachers to my delight were very pleased with my work!

On the last day I was asked for the end of semester grades..........I had been doing this but had stopped as no one asked or directed me as too how they wanted them. It turns out I get 30 points which I break up over attendance, mid-term and final project. Keep in mind its the last day and I teach over 700 students who I now have to convert the percentage for each area into a percentage of the marks allocated. I did up an impressive excel spreadsheet but it still took me until 5:30 on Friday and 2.5 hrs on Saturday to complete!! First Saturday in work for a very long time!!

Overall I am pleased with how semester 1 went, I learnt a lot and will be better at my job next semester. My contract has been renewed for a second term and I even got offered two jobs with my agency that I declined so I am doing something right!! I do like the feeling of knowing you just did a great lesson, that the students really enjoyed. Not all classes go that way but a lot do!
That reminds me on Wednesday we had a random visit from a local university! Student teachers had come to observe some classes. Its the last week and I hadn't planned anything other than a few pictures, the project and goodbyes. So there I am when suddenly 25 FEMALE student teachers come in and stand around the walls of the classroom! There is 45 students in this class!! BOOOM I think quick and end up playing a great game that even got the student teachers involved!! I was happy I didn't mess up or get nervous. Pretty much nailed it!

My plan now is to do some travelling to Chang Mai and maybe two more cities before meeting in Bangkok for the assistant trainer orientation. From there I go to Krabi were I will teach the new batch of Tefl teachers for three weeks. It should be good as I am doing it with Nik who I know very well and I'll meet a bunch of new people. During/after that I'll hit some Islands and head back up to kick off semester two! Also I got the news that Mr. Waller himself will be out to see me for a few weeks and give me some well needed back up against the English onslaught!

Ramblings - An Effort to Reduce the Facebook Posts!!

A few things I need to bring everyone up to speed on, firstly a dog robbed one of my pretty expensive flip flops and I haven't been able to find it or the dog. That's two pairs gone in Thailand. That's at least what I thought a few weeks ago!! I found this flip flop in one of the wardrobes hidden for over three weeks!! A prank by an Englishman!

Secondly I managed, through the help of some friends to collect 200 tokens for a 7-eleven softish rollable mat thing. I strolled in there with the gusto of a young FIFA world player of the year only to be delivered a striking blow. The clerk took the tokens and handed me a receipt (keep in mind no English is being spoken), I looked blankly not able to comprehend I wasn't holding my mat. Eventually I realised the advance date on the receipt meant I would have to return for collection over a week away. So that ended the evening of sunbathing and it took me awhile to recover, I think I was just disappointed and disillusioned with life!! Thankfully I have the mat and it hasn't disappointed. I am collecting once again, except this time its for the foldable picnic table!!

As some of you will remember my very first meal alone in Thailand resulted in a tower of beer arriving on my table when all I wanted was a bottle! Yesterday, 30/08/2013 I went searching for anywhere that had the English Premiership on. I tried many places until I finally found it in a decent looking place but unfortunately there was live music being played at a ridiculously high level. I ordered a bottle and what comes out a bloody jug of beer!! At least I now have a place to watch the football. Two weeks have past since the above and the music is an absolute joke, so much so that tonight 14/09/2013 I left at halftime in search of a TV, I saw one and pulled over to a restaurant (Thai style) that was closed with a family (owners) eating a large fish while watching the match. I asked were they open, NO, I pointed at the match and they beckoned me in! Result, the match and no concert like music banging away. I chatted with the family as best I could and even missed the Rooney goal while watching some game the child was playing on his tablet. They said come back anytime and there is another example of the unbelievable hospitality of real Thai people!

Went to the dentist during the week for a check up and cleaning. Thankfully she has a good grasp of English. It had been awhile since I'd gone to the dentist but I past with flying colours' "amazing dental hygiene"!! Total cost plus toothpaste and mouthwash 470 baht or 12 euro!!

It was science week in school so I expected to see exploding bottles and dissected rats but instead they had a show were the dresses were made of recycled material. It was very impressive. Thai's seem to be great with their hands. One girl made a hat out of hong tong boxes stitched together! There was also a rocket show that Harry and I attempted to enter at the last minute. Unfortunately the opening on our rocket was a little to large so it wouldn't fire!! Very disappointing.

The last tour meeting of semester one took place and for some it would be the last we would ever see of each other. I've been in enough groups to know the good intentions to see friends in far away places let alone nearby places is rare. However it does happen and I've had friends over to Ireland and met up with others in Italy and Las Vegas but after one maybe two meet ups its gone and you wont see those friends again. The weekend was..........well its not fitting for this blog but in my view it was a step to far. Every action is not excusable by saying the words "on tour". I did win a trophy for "most on tour" which I worked pretty damn hard for over the last four months to achieve and appreciated it. Tour has been great, people amazing and the banter incredibly consistent!! For those who I will not see again, it has been an absolute pleasure and I wish you all the best for the future.