Phimai

So, according to statistics, 90% of tourists in Thailand don't visit the northeast region. But, looking through the guidebook, it seemed like there was some pretty cool stuff up there, so I decided to give it a go. After two days, I ended up deciding to follow the 90%. Not because what I saw wasn't completely amazing, but because, looking closer, it's quite difficult to get to a lot of the interesting places. You really need a car or independent (code: more expensive) transportation. But, my short experience was immensely worthwhile. Everyone I met was super friendly, and the things I saw were beautiful.

I took a bus from Bangkok to Korat (short for Nakhon Ratchisma), and a bus from Korat to Phimai. Phimai is just a little bigger than Doembangnangbuat, actually. They have more stoplights and a historical park, but otherwise, it's maybe twice the size of the town where I teach. My general practice while traveling is to arrive somewhere mid-afternoon to early evening, scope out a guesthouse, and just drop in to see if they have rooms available. I'd picked one out from the guidebook, found it, and had to pick another one--the first was under construction and clearly closed. The owners of the second guesthouse, Kru Pom Guesthouse, were really friendly, and we just sat and talked for a while when I first checked in.

I slept in the first morning, relishing in the fact that I could. But around lunchtime I headed over to the historical park, thinking it would probably be quite small, given the size of the town surrounding it, and unlikely to be worth much attention. I'm happy I was proven so wrong. I explored all the nooks and crannies of the temple thoroughly, and had a great time (if a little hot--it was midday, after all). Some of the interesting happenings: one of the workers chasing a dog out of the main temple building; walking behind a group of young monks (teenagers or even younger, I think) on a guided tour; and having a worker come up to me and hand me half a pomegranate, telling me the word for pomegranate in Thai and having me repeat it (tuptim). The historical park is a beautiful place, and I went a little camera-happy . . .

For those who are curious, the picture at the top of the post is the figure in the main, central temple at Phimai. The thing above the head is a seven-headed snake, or naga.

Entering the main gate in the outer wall

View of the main building from within the outer wall

View from a window

Detail on a door frame

Detail on a door lintel

Path (nee hallway) around the main temple grounds, just inside the outer wall (the windows on the left look in) 

Just inside the main temple

View of main temple figure (the picture at the top of the post) from the side, from a window in the outer wall

A huge tree behind the main temple

Steps leading to the back of the outer wall

Another view behind the outer wall (with a monk in the distance)

Pieces of the ruins piled neatly and respectfully, waiting to be restored someday 

Pomegranate

(Just because I know my mom will read this and want a picture of me) 

The second attraction at Phimai is Sai Ngam, the oldest and largest banyan tree in Thailand. Pom, the owner of the guesthouse and a retired teacher, let me borrow a bicycle to go the 2 kilometers to see the tree. I expected to find something huge that a bunch of people wouldn't be able to link arms around. As it turns out, the banyan tree of Sai Ngam is one of those trees that looks like lots of little trees, but they all come from the same root system. So you get to technically walk "into" the tree, which looks like a forest, and there are lots of streamers tied around various bits, and flags draped over the whole thing, and a shrine complete with incense and the picture of a queen who visited the tree back in the early 1900s. It was very peaceful to walk through, but didn't take much time to see/appreciate. Afterward, having seen just about everything Phimai had to offer, I went back to the guesthouse, looked for more things that would be easy to see in NE Thailand, did some calculations about ease of travel, time, and cost, and made the decision to go straight to Chiang Mai the next day. Farewell to the Northeast. A beautiful, if shortened, experience. 

The entrance--good thing I've been practicing reading Thai letters! 

Next to the shrine

Concrete support for some parts of the tree

Koh Chang

I'll admit, I wasn't quite sure where to go first for my holiday. There's just so much to choose from. I planned on going to Chiang Mai, but changed plans when the school asked me to do the two weeks of activity days. So, after going to Ayutthaya last Friday to take care of my immigration 90-day check-in, I went to Bangkok to meet up with Rachael, as per my usual weekend routine. She'd decided to go to her favorite resort Koh Chang this week, and let me tag along.

We took the night bus on Monday, which saved beach time, but wasn't easy to sleep on. Apparently the bus was faster than normal, because we got to the bus station closest to the island at 5 am instead of 6. After some waiting around (and dozing), we got a sorng-taew to the ferry, the hour-long ferry to the island, and a 45-minute sorng-taew to Nature Resort on Lonely Beach.

It was . . . beautiful. There's no other way to describe it. The water was clear and perfect, and when I went swimming in the morning once, I practically had the beach to myself--little fish swam around my legs, trying to decide if I might be something huge and tasty, but were shy enough not to give me the same kind of trouble as I got from the fish at Erawan Falls. I spent a lot of the week reading and drinking fruit smoothies in the shade. I didn't really feel any pressing need to go trekking or sightseeing or any of the normal island activities. It was a little too easy to just stay put. The accommodation was cheap, the staff were kind, air conditioning was rendered completely unnecessary by sea breezes, butterflies were everywhere around the bungalows, and the whole place was just . . . beautiful. Relaxing. A perfect, easy-going first week to my travels.

Here's the resort, looking back through the restaurant/bar area toward reception, and looking toward the beach:

(For those who are curious, the picture at the top of the post is a half-finished milkshake from a restaurant up the road. Huge, refreshing, and delicious!)

Tomorrow, I'm off to explore the North. And the Northeast. Travel itinerary is ranging from flexible to undecided at the moment, but it will be an adventure!

English camp

I mentioned last post I was asked to do two weeks of activity days for the top class in each grade level. Matthayom 3, 4, and 5 (American equivalent would be 9th, 10th, and 11th grade) each got two days, and Matthayom 1 and 2 (American equivalent would be 7th and 8th grade) each got one day.

I decided to design the activities so they were pretty much do-able for any level, and that way I could re-use the activities for most of the days since I didn't have a ton of preparation time. I themed each day around music. Conversation practice revolved around favorite types of music, songs, and bands. Each class learned the lyrics to "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction, and the three older classes got to choose another song to learn on the second day. We played a guessing game with music genres, and I had one activity where I hid clues around the room. The students were divided into teams, and one person on the team would stay at the table and write while everyone else would go around the room finding the clues and then come back to tell them to the team writer. Once everyone had all the clues, they filled in a chart based on the clues. It was great to get them up and moving around, although I did have one student who, clearly bored during one of the activities before the find-the-clues game, found one near his desk, wadded it up into a tiny ball, and threw it across the room. Sometimes teen and pre-teen behavior is the same no matter what country you're in.

Each of the groups in all the classes formed their own bands for one activity (so they had to decide what they'd call their band, what kind of music they would play, who would play what instrument, and so on). On the second day for the older classes, I had the students pick out rhymes from the lyrics they'd learned, and then try to use rhymes to write a few lines of their own. Some of the classes went all out and put their lyrics to the tune of a song they already knew and sang it when the time came to share with the class. One of the groups even arranged guitar accompaniment. It was very impressive!

The activity days were a lot of fun, although it was a little exhausting to teach for the whole day. Having a microphone spared me any strain on my voice, which sometimes does funny things if I'm trying to make myself heard for a long period of time. It was nice to be in a room that allowed for a lot of different activities. I also liked that the students didn't have any homework from other classes to try to sneakily work on while I was teaching!

And now, I'm on holiday for two months! Lots of travel to come!

What Happened to February?

I know it's the shortest month, but usually February drags for me. Not so this year. I turned around and the month had disappeared. Also, the semester ended.

Looking back, there are a few good explanations for why February flew. The first was that I basically had five weeks between midterms and finals, so work was quite busy as I tried to fit everything I felt I should into the last "half" of the term. The second possible justification was that I got sick again. I only took two days off school, but I did work quite a bit when I wasn't feeling my best, simply because if you only see your students once a week--and you've only got so many weeks left--missing even one day suddenly makes a huge difference. I also got inundated with late work, as students tried (and sometimes failed) to get past homework in before I had to turn in grades. I think I may have to be a bit firmer on deadlines after the break.

So, here are some of the more memorable experiences from February:

-Every class being amazed by a koosh ball I brought in for review games the last week before finals.

-A class meeting me as I rode my bike up to the building their class is normally in, and telling me something had happened with a dog in the classroom. I don't know whether the dog in question relieved itself, threw up, or died in that classroom, but the general conveyance was that it was too stinky to have class. We had class in the open air lower level of the building, where the students sat on the ground at some low study tables. Instead of the usual whiteboard/blackboard routine, I wrote on a piece of paper and walked around showing it to all the students. Interesting variation, but not the most contained classroom experience.

-Being attacked with stickers on Valentine's Day.

-Having class in a non-airconditioned room where the fans were broken. It makes a difference!

-Being asked six days before-hand if I would organize activity days for the top students in each grade level for next week. It will be mostly games, and given the classes I'll be working with, it should be quite fun, but the planning is quite last minute.

-Procrastinating making solid plans for the two-month break (which turned out to be a good thing because of the point above). I have a list of places I want to see, and a rough idea of when I want to see them, but have avoided dates so far. Hopefully I'll nail those down before the activity days finish two weeks from now. . .

-Believing for two to three weeks after I was sick that I still didn't have my full energy back because riding my bike to school was so draining. But, as it turns out, it's only draining if you're riding a bike with flat tires. When I realized what was happening, I started walking my bike (which was less effort) only to have someone from the school tell me to stop so he could take the bike to the school and fix the tires. Seriously, in case it hasn't been said by now, Thais are the most helpful people in the world.

-Getting home from Bangkok around nine at night one Sunday, and having the security guard not only open the gate so I could get my bike and ride home, but follow me on his own bike to make sure I got home safely. Have I mentioned how nice Thai people are? And how I feel completely safe traveling on my own in this country? It's incredible.

-The beginning of the hot season. The cool season in Thailand lasts two months. Blink, and you might miss it.