After nearly a month after moving to site I was finally called upon to do some work in the traditional sense; my Saw Naw (supervisor at the Primary Education Service Area Office, equivalent to a school district) asked me to do a training in conversational English for some of the office’s directors. It would be around 35 people over the span of two days at a resort in a different district called Wang Nam Khiao.
When you’re in a new place, you suddenly become hyperaware of everything around you. There are new smells, new sights, new tastes and new sounds. While a lot of these sounds may be somewhat familiar, I’m coming across them in a new context and I wanted to share some of what I hear with you. Check out the video and hear what I do every day.
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.
Tat Ton Waterfall was not the only bpai tiao that I was taken on after moving to my site. I was also taken on a day long trip the Khorat’s Amphur Muang (province’s main city and kind of like a state’s capital) by my co-teacher and we also brought along Gee, one of my host sisters.
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.
It started out as something that was really only marginally interesting: one of my host sisters has just finished high school and was going to Chaiyaphum to register for university to study nursing. Chaiyaphum is about an hour from where I live. So we all loaded up into someone else’s pick up truck and made our way there. We all being Gee (my 18-year-old host sister), Geek (my 12-year-old host sister), my host mom, the man who owns the car, an “aunt” and me.
Monk ordinations are not the only time for dancing in the street. On April 13-15 Thailand celebrates Songkran, the traditional New Year. I posted a video of it a couple weeks ago, but I thought I would take the time to expand a little more on what happened during the festival and some of the meanings behind it.
So far during my time here in Thailand I have had the opportunity to go to two different monk ordinations. Or at least the celebrations leading up the ordination. In Thailand, every male becomes a monk for at least three months. There is even government assistance for men who take time away from work in order to become a monk.
After swearing in, we newly minted volunteers got right down to business with the Counterpart Conference. We spent the next couple days getting to know our counterparts a little bit better, communicating our expectations of each other, getting on the same page as far as Peace Corps policy and for the TCCS volunteers figuring out what co-teaching and lesson planning together meant in real time. more “Graduation and Welcoming Ceremony”
As I mentioned previously on March 22, 2013, 47 of some of the most amazing people I know were officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers by the US Ambassador to Thailand. It truly was a day of dreams being realized. more “Peace Corps: Swearing In as a Volunteer”
Did you know that different cultures define the beginning of a new year at different times? For example, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, happens around September, while the Islamic New Year moves throughout the Gregorian calendar, and this year happens at the beginning of November. Traditionally in Thailand, Songkran, the Thai New Year, is on April 13th to 15th. Check out the video of some of the traditional celebrations in my village.
After a Saturday well spent and feeling pretty productive with the Teacher Training Camp, we came to our technical training on Tuesday feeling like there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
But sometimes that light is a train.
more “Peace Corps Pre-Service Training: Life Skills Afternoon”