So after a weekend of travelling and settling in we were up bright and early for our first experience of real teaching. We had been told that these 2weeeks of teaching would be supervised, but turned out they weren't. But this was fine as we were all in pairs so we could help each other out. We were told to be ready for half 8 on Saturday but apparently this had changed come Sunday night when people started saying that we had to be ready for 8. So come 8 Monday morning and everyone is up, shattered, but all looking very smart, everyone scrubs up pretty well apparently. When you're use to seeing people in shorts and t-shirt, bikini's or just general beach clothes its quite strange seeing them all in proper smart teaching clothes. So come 8:10 and the Songtaow (not Songta as I previously thought in the last post) finally turns up, we all hop on to a rather cramped Songtaow as there are about 18 of us and they usually carry about 12, but we manage. So we turn up to this school, not really knowing what to expect, and having prepared lessons for basic to intermediate level, we were shocked when we got into class and they were incredibly advanced. Over the four days of teaching at this school we found out that this was one of the best schools in Hat Yai, it was the equivalent to a grammar school back home where you have to pass an exam to get in. While at this school we got into the mindset that most students were going to be this advanced, which is not true at all. As we found out the second week of teaching practice. But back to the advanced school, while teaching there the kids were moaning that our topics were too easy, so missing English food we decided to teach that as a topic. Which paid off as they seemed to find it a bit more difficult, but making the flashcards showing the food the night before made me into a dribbling wreck. I've never wanted fish and chips more in my life. At the end of the lesson we got them to draw their favourite English food, and answer a few questions. One of the questions was whether or not they thought English food was healthy or unhealthy, there were mixed answers. Many of them thought that English food looked healthy because there is a good mixture of meat and veg, this made me and Kaley laugh as we obviously know different. But there was one girl who put the same as the rest, but then put that she thought some of it looked unhealthy as it was high in cholesterol because it was fried. 'High in Cholesterol' what the hell, I can't even spell cholesterol with out the help of spellcheck, this 14 year old Thai girl knew more English then I do. Another class used the topic of politics, and got the class to vote for a class president, and make a speech on why they should be class president, and one of the kids said that people should vote for him because he was diligent. I don't even know what diligent means. We were all very grateful when we found out that we had Friday off because it was a Buddhist holiday, a celebration of vegetarianism. So we decided to show our support by getting rather drunk, on both Thursday and Friday night. Thursday night we had our first experience of a Thai nightclub, in Thailand they don't seem to have invented dance floors yet, so we had to improvise, seeing a small open space I led the way and shocked a few Thais with my amazing dance moves.
So this was our first experience of teaching and we all slipped into the mindset that this is what it was going to be like in all the schools.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Lies, heartbreak and an unwanted tour of south Thailand
So, up nice and early to travel to Krabi, where me and Kaley had been selected to teach together by the school there. So after about 4 hours cramped into the back of a car, all our stuff packed into the boot, we arrived in Krabi. For those of you that don’t know, Krabi is an idyllic beach town on the west coast of south Thailand where every traveller goes when they visit Thailand. So we were incredibly happy when we were told that this is where we would be teaching. However this was not the case, and was the start to a very knackering, down heartening tour of south Thailand.
When we arrived at the school in Krabi it all seemed too good to be true, we had been selected together in a paradise location, the head of English was telling us how she could help us find accommodation and that we would need to rent a scooter to get to school, and talking as if we would start teaching soon. Then an American lad arrived and she took him into her office and told us that she wouldn’t be too long, she just had to interview a few people. We all looked at each other, obviously thinking the same thing, ‘Hm interview? Does that mean we don’t have the job yet?’ We were then told, after waiting for about 15 minutes not knowing what the hell was going on, that we had to do a demonstration in 10 minutes, this told us that this was an interview for definite. So with nothing to prepare with, we asked for some pen and paper, and knocked together a very under prepared lesson. We gave our demonstrations, obviously not our best as we had hastily put them together in 10 minutes, and were told to wait downstairs. The teacher we met first of all had told Dalton that this was just formalities and that she would make sure that the English department chose us. So down she comes and sits at the head of the table, and in follows one of the other interviewees, she then proceeds to tell the other interviewee that she was very good, how her friend (one of the teachers in the English department giving the decision) had recommended her, and then told her she had the job, right in front of us. She then informed Dalton and Amp (one of Dalton’s Thai employees), in English, that the reason we didn’t get the job was because we were too inexperienced. So we had travelled to Krabi with the presumption that we had a job, to be told we were too young and inexperienced, and that the only reason the school chose us, sorry, chose the company, was because they offered to run English camps and write the schools English programme (so it turned out me and Kaley had been chosen together because we both have a degree in English literature, and we were on the first page of the profiles advertising teachers from the company, not because we are favoured by the boss, unlike some people believe). So we were all very pissed at being used and lied to, and heartbroken that we would not be placed in such a paradise. On the way back to Hat Yai Dalton rang a school in Nakhon si thammarat that had asked for 2 teachers but had been turned down as all teachers had been placed already, or so Dalton thought before the Krabi experience.
So Day two of our tour of south Thailand, we had left all our bags in the car on the presumption that we would be in a new house by the end of the day and be employed by a school. So we set off to Nakhon, this time only a few hours away and on the east coast of south Thailand this time. We arrived on time and had our interview, and demonstration, this time everyone knew it was an interview and knew about the demonstration so we were prepared. We were told by the director of the school and the ‘advisor’, who had been employed by the mayor to see if we were fit for the job, that they loved us and would hire us on the spot if they could. But, owing to it being a municipality school, it was run by the local government/council, it all had to go through the mayor, and being the first foreign teachers they would have hired everything had to be done by the book. We were told that we would not get an answer for a couple of weeks, another journey wasted, we had little money and needed to start work sooner rather than later. So Dalton asked if we wanted to wait and find out or be placed in a school tomorrow that was guaranteed, we wanted to be placed, we had spent the past 2 days travelling, living out off a back of a car and wanted to be settled. The only thing in the way of this was that 2 girls from the course were to be placed there, luckily for us they had already said that they wanted to be placed in Hat Yai, to be together and with everyone else. So all Dalton had to do was get a yes from the girls that they wanted to be placed in Hat Yai and we would have a school and a new home by tomorrow night. The girls said yes.
So day 3, and the final day of our tour, or so we hoped, we were not so optimistic anymore, but it all turned out well in the end, we arrived in the little town of La ‘ngu, near the beach, Kaley was dropped off at her ‘primary’ school, and had to teach straight away, which she was not told and had not expected, but being the amazing teacher she is, she pulled it off. I was then taken to my school to meet the English department, this was a guaranteed job, Dalton had worked with this school for years and they trusted him, so with the basic introductions over and me sitting their silently, and the English department looking a bit nervous, Dalton informed them that I was tired after our little tour of south Thailand, and that I was a very confident teacher, they were still not so sure. So Dalton asked me if I wanted to give a demonstration, seeing that they were not so confident with Daltons promises I said I would like to, and having given the same demonstration for the past 2 days I was confident with it and confident that I would make them see that I am a good teacher and that Dalton was still to be trusted. So I began and as soon as they saw that I was a confident teacher they soon started to look in favour of Dalton’s selection. To see a group of people’s face’s who don’t seem all too optimistic that you are what they are looking for, change while you are trying to show them that you are what they are looking for is a very empowering thing, and after 2 days of being knocked down I was confident that I would be able to do this, I would be a teacher, and I would be a good teacher.
Over hyped beach party
So it’s now been almost a month since my last post, and about 2 weeks since I wrote my last blogs, English camp and second week of teaching practice. In this time I have been to the full moon party, not all it’s cracked up to in my opinion, I have been dragged around the south of Thailand in 3 days for 3 different jobs, only one turned out to be an actual job and not an interview, I have started teaching, there have been floods, I have fallen in love, I have almost been killed, safa’s and BBQs, not a good mix, I have learnt to drive a scooter, I have got a tattoo and I have been back to Koh Lipe where it all began.
So to start with, after the 2 weeks of teaching practice we were told we would have 2 weeks to ourselves, to do a bit of travelling, and whatever we wanted. In the middle of these 2 weeks was the world renowned Full Moon party, so we decided to all have a massive blowout together before we had to go out into the real world of teaching, responsibility, early nights and being split up around the south of Thailand
We decided to travel to koh phangang on the Wednesday before the party to have some time to ourselves and to get to know where everything was. We had only booked accommodation for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we would have to find accommodation for 2 nights, we had been told before that there were accommodation touts on the ferry over to the island so we would use one of these. The tout we met was called shat, probably spelt chat and pronounced like the French for cat. He was a tout for a resort near where we had already booked and it was only 350 baht per night, had its own private beach and an infinite pool, it’s a deal, it’s a steal’ it’s the sale of the fucking century, fuck it, I think I’ll keep it myself. So we spent a few days alone which was nice to do. On Thursday some more people arrived and had booked accommodation on the other side of the island, next to where the Full Moon party was, so we hired a scooter, Kaley had said she could drive it, but when she tried, after having to ask how we start it, she nearly crashed into a tree, and swiftly decided that I would be the designated driver. Having never driven one in my live I was a bit nervous, but after the initial zoom off, when you don’t know how sensitive the throttle is, I was fine and felt confident enough to drive, luckily on our side of the island there were very little people so the roads were empty for me to fully get to grips with driving the scooter. So even though Kaley was not driving this did not mean she couldn’t be the cause of our problems with the bike. First of all we ran out of petrol, luckily rolling into a petrol station, then Kaley locked the keys in the compartment under the seat, so we had to push the bike to the mechanics, which was luckily only a 2 minute walk away, and when I say we I actually mean me. As we drove to Haad rin where the other were staying there were a lot of hills as you got closer, unfortunately our bike was not powerful enough to get us both up these hills, so again I had to push it up the hill, this time however there was fuel in the tank so I pushed it up the hill with the help of the engine. That night was a pre party for the Full Moon party at the others hotel; it was a pool party, so obviously we had to go. The pool party was incredible, met some really cool people, some idiots, and me and Kaley first said the 3 words every couple wish they can say to each other and get the same response one day. Kaley that night was incredibly drunk, I think a more fitting phrase would be ‘completely rat arsed’, this was partly due to making friends with a scouse bird and her welsh boyfriend, and being scouse she would half inch buckets off the side of the pool, we spent about 500 baht that night, buckets were 250 each, so that shows you how many buckets we half inched. The night after me and Kaley were a little worse for wear so we didn’t drink and had an early night to be fully up for the Full Moon party the following night.
The day of the Full Moon party we drove over to Haad Rin to meet up with Salex (Sally and Alex), and some of Sally’s friends. We spent the day on the beach, not much in the sea as there were millions of little fish that bit you while you were in the sea. So the night of the Full Moon party arrived, me, Kaley, Salex, and their friends, all got raved up, neon clothes and body paint. Then we headed over to the coral bungalows where the pool party was a couple of nights before and where everyone else was meeting. We had decided on this as a meeting place because it was showing the Chelsea vs. Wolves game, and me being a Chelsea
· A lot of arrogant people.
· Being in a big group is a bad idea – people get pissed and wander off, and everyone has different music tastes.
· Spend all your time saying ‘No thanks’ to the drug dealers (either because you already have some or because you don’t do them, depends on your prerogative)
· Basically it’s just getting pissed on a beach.
· I'm not saying it’s absolute crap, just don’t go in a massive group, and definitely go a few days before the party, the pre-parties are better than the actual party.
So after losing everyone and avoiding some people (some people are drunken mugs) me and Kaley went back to our room, had a decent few hours kip and woke up nice and early the morning after. We had breakfast, dropped out scooter of, and got to the ferry back with enough time to have a nice sandwich. On our ferry was also meant to be Matt and Salex, Alex turned up without Sally because she had gone missing the night before, she finally turned up still pissed at 11 and missed the ferry back. So on our ferry back was me, Kaley and Matt. The journey back to Hat Yai was not the nicest of experiences but we arrived safely and went to bed shattered, to be up for 6 the next morning.
Second week of teaching practice
So after a difficult yet fulfilling start to the week, I was back in a proper school teaching a reasonable sized class, but they were also incredibly basic, we had started the lesson by asking them what their names were and how old they were. This was difficult, they knew how to ask what peoples’ names were but not how to say how old they were. So for the next 3 hours we taught them numbers and months, and how to say when their birthday was. I found it personally rewarding when I taught them that when you say which month your born in its ‘in’ and not ‘on’, and when you talk about the actual date you were born on its ‘on’ and not ‘in’. It was at this point that I realised that I would truly enjoy this experience, and that I didn’t want to be placed in a school with very advanced kids, because I wanted to know that the English they spoke when I eventually leave is the English that I have taught them.
During this week I also experienced my first class of primary school kids, when I was told that I was going to teach primary, I was not looking forward to it. Now I like kids, not in a daily mail way though, but that’s when there’s only 1 or 2 of them, not 20 odd, but when it came to teaching them it was not as bad as I expected. The first good thing was that they were the oldest primary school kids, so about 10-11, which I can handle, and the fact they were more advanced than the secondary school kids helped as well. So the second and final week of teaching practice was over, there were mixed thoughts of how it went but overall everyone felt that the actual teaching was a good experience, the being late for most days was annoying but mai pen rai.
English camp
It’s been awhile since my last entry, this is partly due to laziness and partly due to a severe lack of internet connection. Well if I remember rightly my last blog was about my first week and a half of teaching practice. If I repeat myself its due to the fact I don’t have the internet and can’t check as to what I have written in my previous blog. So the second week of teaching practice was an eye opener. After getting used to the kids being better at speaking English than me, it was a shock to the system to have kids that were very basic.
My second week began with an English camp, an English camp is where a group of kids, ranging from 40 up to 5-600, luckily our English camp didn’t have this many kids and only had 70. But this didn’t make any difference; we (myself, Kaley, Maggie and Jerry) were not prepared for such a large number. When we were told that we had an English camp we were expecting a group of about 40 kids with which we could keep in one group and work together while playing our games we had prepared. This, however, was not the case, the 70 kids were split into 5 groups of about 24 (I say about but if there were exactly 70 kids this would be exact, but I expect that there were not exactly 70 kids) when this happened we all looked at each other in panic. Luckily we had arrived late and only had time to play one game before lunch, which however, went Pete tong. We had about 12 balloons with the individual letters to make up a word associated with birthday parties, our first problem came when we tried to explain what they had to do, me and Kaley had to demonstrate, we had to run to the balloons in the corner of the big hall and sit on the balloon. They understood this after our rather stupid demonstration, but then they had to collect the letters inside the balloon. This was our next problem, when they popped the balloons they left some of the letters on the floor as they had exploded everywhere. Then when they got the letters back it took them a while to work out the word but when they had we still had quite a while left, so we made them get another balloon and then made them make as many words as they could, most of the groups got about 4 – 15 words, but one group managed to get 42 words, all spelt correctly. So while lunch was on we worked out what we going to do after lunch. We had the games we had prepared but realised that most of them were too advanced for the kids on this camp and we didn’t have the materials we would need. So I decided to go back to basics with my group and do colours, I wrote 4 different colours on A4 paper and stuck them to trees and signposts outside, I would shout out a colour and they had to run to the right colour, and the last one there was out. As this didn’t last very long I had to think on my feet, I decided to walk around a bit pointing at random things and getting them to tell me the colour. Once we got to a bunch of benches in the shade we sat down as the kids were complaining that they were ron which is Thai for hot, I had to agree with them, they were in shorts and t-shirts, I was in trousers and shirt, so I decided to teach them ‘what is your favourite colour? My favourite colour is _____, I then played my game with them again. This worked well and after I had done it with one group I got better and better. We finished the day by putting them into 2 lines, one side had a water balloon and they had to throw it back and forth until it burst. After about 5 minutes we split them up again, this time the ones with water balloons left in their hand up one end and the rest down the other end, while Kaley made sure the ones without water balloons stayed where they were, I mimed to the other lot that on the count of 3 throw your water balloons at the other lot, despite their limited English they got this on the first go. So after a stressful start to the day we ended on a high with a lot of rather wet kids smiling and laughing.
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