Sand Be On Every Beach, Where The Elephants At

I got to see my first elephants in Thailand!!

My weekend trip to Surin the see the Elephant roundup began bright and early. We caught the 6:30 bus to Surin.

It was a three hour ride, with ac, water, and loud Thai TV.  I tried to take a nap, although it was to a chorus of laughter and ridiculous stunts on the Thai comedy show. LUckily though the ride wasn't too long and we soon arrived in Surin.

Once we arrived I called the woman we were supposed to to bring us to our accommodation.  As it turns out a friend of a friend had a husband in the army and they rent out extra guest rooms.  So this kind woman picked us up at the bus station, showed us to our army camp room, then took us to see some elephants. It was amazing to see them simply lumbering down the street.

The experience was also humbling as you remember that these majestic animals are spending their lives confined to cities, rather than roaming free.  That they do circus tricks and give people rides on their back rather than relaxing and doing whatever they please in the wild.

The experience inspired me to learn more about elephants in Thailand. The next time I spend time with elephants I plan for it to be at a camp that takes good care of them, where they can live with more freedom.

The two highlights of our trip was our fun night out on Saturday and the elephant show on Sunday.

Although no taxis were available in Surin we eventually hailed (had a woman call for us) a tuk tuk to pick us up, and then rode home in the back of a  pick up truck.  The evening included sipping drinks at a Thai reggae bar,  walking towards the sound of music, and then happening to stop into a Thai concert.  We relaxed and enjoyed the individuality of our trip and as Julia put it, "sand be on every beach, where the elephants at" All in all, a great night and wonderful company.

The following morning was the elephant show.  Again our host picked us up, this time at 8am and with bottles of water for us all. The elephant show featured, a welcome ceremony, circus tricks, elephant soccer, thai traditional dancing, and a battle re-enactment.


The highlight by far was the final dancing and battle reenactment. The English commentary had ended so it was a bit difficult to know exactly what was happening, but it was so interested, and the dancing was beautiful.  Sadly my camera battery died so I couldn't attempt to capture the finally, not that it would do justice to the experience.


After the show we simply had a meal and returned to Ubon.  Rather than waiting 3 hours to travel back with the same bus company we took first a van and then a smaller bus.  It seems with Thai travel you never know exactly what you will get.

A different kind of street traffic. 

Snack Time??

Often temples are easier to find that stop signs. 

Elephant Show!!

Elephant Painting

World's best reggae DJ

First Weeks Teaching in Thailand

I made it through my first two weeks of an official teaching job (and technically more since I'm posting this late)!! I enjoyed my first week two weeks.  Although I would lying if I did not say it was not overwhelming and surprising.  There were moments when I just kept going along, hoping I was actually teaching something, and not just wasting the little time I actually have with students. 

At Assumption College Ubon I teach secondary students, from 7-12^th grade.  I teach eight classes of students! I teach three different classes of 7^th graders, two classes of 8^th graders, then one class in 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade students.  It was a bit overwhelming at first, so many students, a education system I am unfamiliar with and a vastly different school culture.

After two weeks though, I am getting my feet under me.  The first week let me get a bit of a picture of what teaching will likely be like for the next year.  The second week allowed me to start practice teaching English as a Second Language, something very different from my 4 years of college in Elementary Education.  And I’m hoping my third week will let me start to create some expectations and normalcy in my classes (which it seems like is happening).

It’s challenging because there is a big variety of ability in English.  Also some students are very high achieving, whereas others try to do the least amount of work, if any at all. 

Overall, behavior has not been much of a problem.  The only real problem is that the students like to chat in Thai throughout classes and as I am speaking, a few groups of students are particularly challenging.  The Thai teachers help a lot with this though, and help to manage the students.  So I think that if I am firmer with them in the next couple weeks, hopefully it will simply become easier with time.  There are also tricks I am picking up, having students stand up when talking or sleeping in class, an easy embarrassment and quick fix to keep them on their toes.  Always being ready to ask students questions.

Luckily the first week of classes was largely introductions and then celebrating Halloween, because quiet honestly it’s pretty hard to prepare to teach when you don’t really have any idea what to expect of a classroom. 

I really enjoyed Halloween. The teachers in the EBP (English Bilingual Program) office also dressed up, and we had a small assembly for the younger kids. 

Some of my students in M 1 (7th grade). 

Thai education is certainly different than in America.  There is a lot of flexibility with what you teach, and the expectations for students vary greatly. The atmosphere here though, with teachers and students, is friendly and relaxed, and I can see myself enjoying teaching here. 

After my first weeks teaching I also had time to relax on the weekend.  I went with many of the teachers in the office to a Halloween party at a place called the Outside Inn, which is a restaurant/bar/hostel run by an American and his Thai wife.  The owners are great people, and I was excited to have a delicious American style burger and relax outside by some Thai greenery. 

I also have a bike now!! Thai kindness comes through again and Busaba (someone you’ll likely continue to hear about), a teacher from school lent me her extra bike. It is great to have easier transport.  It now takes me about two minutes to go to school and grocery shopping and exploring the city are much easier.

So this past weekend, although hot on the bike, I explored around and have a much better understanding of how to get around.  I did a bit of shopping at a Thai market, made it down to the river and had a yummy banana pineapple smoothie at Moon Lover as I wrote my blog.  I stopped by the Ubon Library, and now am headed back to do a little prep for school next week. 

All in all, I’ve enjoyed my couple weeks in Thailand and am excited to settle in, learn more Thai, and continue traveling and exploring.  A great help too, I found the tourist center and got my collections of maps and pamphlets about things to do. 

Next you’ll likely here about my trip to Laos in order to get my visa, as well as hopefully the upcoming Surin elephant festival!

To the Village

Before school began I had the opportunity to see life in a quieter Thai village, as well as participate in donating food to monks and paying respect to the dead through a Buddist ritual.

Busaba, who you may feel like your getting to know, invited me to join her in going to her hometown, a small village near the Sisaket, an 1 ½ or so drive from Ubon.

The night before I had been invited over for dinner where I helped make pad thai and curry!!

First we went to the market and picked out all the fresh foods to cook with. 

 A little different than home, with all kinds of raw meat and fish for sale.

 Busaba hard at work buying pad thai ingredients. 

 Yum Yumm!!

 Nui and Busaba cooking away!!

Yet another delicious meal!!

The following day we left Ubon around eight in the morning and drove towards Sisaket.  We arrived at the temple early and began preparing the foods that would be eaten by the monks. Slowly more people came with different foods, and we continued to prepare a very nice meal for the monks. I also had the privilege of meeting all but one of Busaba’s sisters.

After the meal we went to the temple and paid respect to Busaba’s family who had passed away. 

Once the ceremony was completed.  We went to the village, to were Busaba’s parents had once lived.  We shared a meal together, of course delicious since Busaba prepared it all herself. 

Then I got a tour. I was shown her parents home, the barns, with cows and chickens.  The gardens with herbs and banana trees. Then we relaxed, made flowers from banana leaves and cut bamboo to use to cook later.

The home Busaba's parents used to live in. 

 I kept hearing the song, "Do your ears hang low, do they wobble to and fro, can your tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow." as I snapped pictures of the cows.

 Bamboo for cooking rice inside. 

Banana Leaves. 

Then we headed back to Ubon. 

Busaba's car which sports a well worn I love Vermont sticker. 

On the way home we stopped at an Pagoda ruins. 

My trip to the village was lovely and I saw the relaxed pace of life in one of the villages of Thailand, as well as seeing some history and more aspects of the culture.