I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand from 2013 to 2015. I worked as a Primary Teacher Trainer and lived in Isaan, the rural northeast of the country. In these posts, you’ll find information relating to Peace Corps and things related to the program and agency, as well as official Peace Corps work from my time in Thailand. For Thailand specific information, check out the Thailand category.
My family recently sent me a care package and fulfilled one of my requests that makes me especially grateful: ear plugs. Here’s a tip if you are traveling to Thailand: bring ear plugs. Thailand is loud.
This past Saturday was my birthday. I turned 26. I had read about a craft beer party that a beer import company, Beervana, was having in a city not too far from my village, Khon Kaen. So that is what I did; I went and drank delicious Oregon craft beer, ate pizza, drank beer from a brewery in Khon Kaen, and ate bruschetta and potato salad in dill sauce. I stayed at a hotel and took a shower with hot water. It was a good birthday. more “Reflecting on My Life on My 26th Birthday”
As a Peace Corps volunteer, I live in a rural area. One thing that I think is characteristic of any rural area is the presence of animals and livestock. As I rode my bike past the local herd of cows, that are different from cows in the States, I thought about how different the animals are that I encounter on a near daily basis than the animals that I came in contact with regularly in the States. So, here is a short list and some pictures of the animals that are a part of my life in Thailand. more “Common Animals in a Thai Village”
It was early December and I was stopped over in Bangkok on my way back to my site after a vacation in the South to go diving and visit Khao Sok. I meet up with another Peace Corps volunteer who was also in the city at the time, and we were wandering around Khao San Road when he got a text. It said the prime minister had resigned and was calling new elections. I soon found out that the date for the elections was set for February 2. On Sunday, the voting was scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.
My friend and fellow volunteer Rosie has been using this really neat app called One Second Everyday. Basically, it allows you to pick a second of a video or picture of everyday and then you can export them into a longer video. I thought this was super cool and so I’m going to try to do this throughout the year, similar to my sentence a day for last year. Here’s a video summary of January!
The U.S. has been experiencing quite a bit of extreme weather lately. The Polar Vortex is encapsulating swaths of the country and plunging it into sub-zero temperatures. It was even the lead story on a lunchtime news show here in Thailand, with the video showing piles of white powder that my community has never seen in real life and cannot even fathom what such an environment is like. The lady that I always buy pineapple from in the market asked me if it was cold in America, to which I replied, “Ka! Naao mak mak! He-ma dtok leao, loei, ka!” (Yes, very cold, the snow has fallen a lot already!)
Earlier this month, a royal decreed set February 2 as the date for new elections after the Thai government dissolved in response to protests. There has been some recent developments, that I thought I would share and document for the benefit of future Peace Corps volunteers in Thailand should political turmoil happen again in the future (which if history is any indication, is likely).
Wats, or Buddhist temples, are everywhere in Thailand. And for as many temples as there are, there are just as many different styles. However, many of them share similarities as well. Check out the video of some of the details of Thailand’s temples.
Last week I attended the 34th Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference in Chiang Mai. The theme of the conference was “21st Century English Language Education: Towards Global Citizenship.” I was extremely satisfied with the experience and it made me think quite a bit about teaching English, specifically in Thailand, and how I can improve my approaches and to pass those along to my co-teacher.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
I finally made it up to the northern city of Chiang Mai, a place that other volunteers regularly rave about. But this wasn’t just any bpai tiao, I went to Chiang Mai to attend the 34th Annual Thailand TESOL International Conference along with two other Peace Corps volunteers, my counterpart Kruu Ning and five other counterparts. Kruu Ning had also never been to Chiang Mai, so we arrived early in the morning the day before the conference started to give us a chance to tour around to some of the highlights of the area.