Schools in

'Good morning teacher' the class said as one as I stood at the front. It was then when I realised I was a teacher. Following months of waiting and preparation I was now a teacher. It was also then I realised I was not at all prepared. I began with what I knew, introducing myself. 'Hello. My name is Dylan.'
'Diran,' the class replied. 'Dylan' I said again. 'Diran' the class again replied. The Thais struggle to pronounce the letter 'L' so for as long as I am in Thailand I will be 'Teacher Diran.' Each lesson a Thai teacher will be in the classroom, controlling the class, translating any English into Thai the students do not understand or doing whatever else they want. We were told we would not be teaching on the first day only observing. For the first ten minutes of my first class there was no other teacher in the room and I was hoping I was actually in the correct place. Luckily I had a ball in my bag and used it to throw around the class getting the students to introduce themselves. Each of the students have an English nick name although I am unsure whether the students were using their real names or nick names it was so difficult to understand them.
My Thai assistant arrived and I let her take the class although she had obviously not been told I was only there to observe for the day and took a while to comprehend what was going on. She did take over the class but taught a very boring and irrelevant class where the students had to translate English words into Thai from copying the board.
I decided I would teach the rest of the classes for the day. The first day of school was a Tuesday which also happened to be my busiest day of the week with six periods out of seven teaching.
At the end of the class I went back to the office and had about ten minutes to prepare a lesson plan for a class of students with no idea what level their English was. The second lesson was much more successful than the first. I asked the students 'how did you get to school this morning' and 'what did you do on the holidays.' By the final lesson I felt I actually taught a good lesson. I am teaching primary school years five and six and I discovered there is quite a difference in the two levels as to their level of English.
Day two was similar to the first spending the lessons introducing myself and getting the students to talk about themselves. In the first week of classes there was some confusion as to which classes I was teaching when. For the final class I was due to teach on my second day the class was also due to go to music but the teacher for music never turned up. I spent the whole 50 minutes standing outside the classroom with the students as my Thai assistant teacher was chatting me up and getting the students to ask me questions about myself for her own good.
Following the first couple of days I had a good feeling about teaching in Thailand so I was looking forward to the rest of the semester. I did have to go back to my place and sleep though.

Elephants and ladyboys in Surin

Thirty seconds after stepping off the bus in Surin Tim and I spotted the first elephant. The city is famous for its elephants so it was not a surprise to see one, I did not expect to see one so quickly though. The elephants are lead through the streets by handlers who try and get bystanders to pay money to feed them. The elephants are trained to take the food out of people’s hands and then bow when the bag is empty. It is cruel for the elephants to be lead around as they are but I was still impressed to see such a large animal walking the streets.
Tim and I were in Surin to catch up with the interns who were working in the city and after spending almost twelve hours on public transport to get there it was great to see some of the guys at the pub near their accommodation. The majority of the interns had begun work as most of the schools were uneffected by the floods although some of the interns still were not placed at schools. Therefore Tim and I went and spent the day with those who did not have jobs as we went to visit a waterfall.
A minivan had been organised to get everyone to the waterfall again though the driver did not know where he was going and probably stopped six or seven times along the drive to get directions. We did arrive at a waterfall, not sure its the when we had set out for or not it was difficult to know. The ten or so of us at the waterfall went exploring up and down the river to try find the best spot. At one point a snake swam past a couple of the crew and they launched out of the water. I looked around to see possibly the worlds smallest snake.
Following the day at the waterfall we began drinking. It was the night of Loi Krathong. One of the biggest festivals in Thailand, I wasn't sure where the events would be taking place and ended up missing out on the best part of the night where Thais send small boats floating down rivers. I was disappointed to miss out on the fun but continued partying and headed out to see what a night out in Surin consisted of.
The Jar Bar was the first stop to listen to some Thai raggae music and a pretty good version of some Bob Marley songs. The night then took us to the club opposite. Thai clubs are full of tables which people stand around and drink. The music is to loud to talk and the tables too close together to dance. As we entered the club the locals all offer you a drink which is usually whisky and soda water. Not the easiest drink to get down but its rude not to accept.
The club was a warm up to Speed 3 the huge club in Surin and a regular spot for the interns. The club is set up the same with tables all over the dance floor and the locals just standing around. The most memorable part of the night was spotting the ugliest looking lady boys I have ever seen, they all came to try dance with the white people but the breasts on a man with a beard are hard to look at.
The following day it was time to sit around a pool. The last week or so for me seemed to go pool, waterfall, beach, beach, pool, waterfall, pool. A pretty easy life in other words. I did leave the poolside for a couple of hours though to check out Surins festival which was in preparation for the elephant festival which was due to take place the following weekend. The festival in Surin seemed to be selling the same things as the one in Chachoengsao with the same show rides and games.
Drinking again and a return to the Jar Bar and Speed 3 was how we spent what became our final night in Surin. It was a Friday night so those who had been teaching for the week were all out drinking. It was great catching up with the friends I had made in Bangkok and hear their stories of teaching.
It was slow movements the following morning and I decided it was time to get back to Chachoengsao to prepare for school. The final day was spent walking the streets of Surin then searching for a couple of hours to find the bus station to book some tickets out of there. The overnight bus to Bangkok was much quicker than the journey there, the bus head reclining seats and gave all passengers food. I was very cold though the whole night as they pump the air condition and set the bus to 19 degrees, much cooler than the outside temperature.
I was back in Chachoengsao early Sunday morning to be ready to go into school on the Monday morning and start school on the Tuesday. Back in Chachoengsao some of the farangs were hosting a BBQ and I went along and met the majority of the farangs in the city including those I would be working with.

Festival time in Chachoengsao

Chachoengsao hosts an annual festival in the park which kicked off for real the night we returned to the city. I have no idea the reason for the festival or what it was called but the city comes out in force for the week or so of activities. Many of the stalls were set up over a week before the event was due to start and we had visited but now as it was in full swing the crowds were larger and all sorts of things were going on.
Stall holders at the festival were selling anything including popcorn, a car, a snake, a dressed up rabbit and many other crazy food items. Music was blaring out of speakers throughout the park. I went to the festival on at least four different occasions and still didn't feel like I saw everything. There were many clothing stalls selling good looking cheap clothes although none of them fitted me. There are not many six foot three Thais.

Yacht clubs and Boys town in Pattaya

Taxi drivers in Thailand don't often know where they are going and it was the case as we left Ban Phe the port where the Ko Samet ferry returns to the mainland. Tim, Karen and I were trying to get to the Royal Veruna Yacht Club in Pattaya. The taxi driver had no idea what we were talking about and I figured if we just reached the coast we would find it. Turns out Pattaya is a large city and the yacht club is hiding in a secret spot nobody really knows about. We were at the sailing club for Tim to try and sail being a keen sailer back in Perth.
The sailing club is a little oasis away from the hustle and bustle and craziness which is Pattaya. Sitting inside the club looking out over the water and the yachts I could have been anywhere in the world. Members of the club come from all over the world and while at the club Thailand seemed worlds away. Once Tim had organised a sail for the following day it was time to enter the real Pattaya.
Pattaya is world famous for its sex tourism and you do not have to look far to find evidence of it. Our first stop after the sailing club was Walking Street, the sign reads 'Walking Street- International Meeting Street.' Its full of go-go bars and nightclubs but was pretty well empty as we walked the stretch of it in the early afternoon. I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about till we reached the beach and girls were waiting on the footpath waiting to get taken away by a male. I have seen hookers before in Melbourne, San Fransisco, Paris and other parts of the world but never as obvious as here in Pattaya. It did creep me out a bit.
I was not in Pattaya for the sex, the three of us were in the city to catch up with a crew of interns who were placed at a school in Bang Lamung, which is just outside the Pattaya border. They were out on an island for the day and so we waited till they returned before we all went out to dinner. Following dinner one of the guys took us all to Boys Town. The gay section of Pattaya. If it wasn't already full on enough walking through that street was quite a shock as all the guys sit in the bars facing the street watching the passing men. I did actually think it was funny how much attention we were getting from the Thai males. The costumes though in some of the clubs stopped me well short of the door.
The following morning on the Sunday after our gay night out the Bang Lamang crew had to go into school to be introduced to the parents of the students they are teaching. Then it was time to visit a local pool. The pool is part of a hotel and patrolled by guards but the guards seem to like the girls so we were able to swim for the day without having to pay our get kicked out.
Monday morning when the teachers had to go to school again Tim, Karen and I made our way back to Chachoengsao. Pattaya is the most popular tourist destination in Thailand, it would not top my list as one of the best places in the country. I did need to see it though for myself and I may return soon to experience it again.

Paradise island, almost

A speedboat in the cover of darkness dropped us on Ko Samet to begin a couple of days and three nights of lazing around in the day and partying at night. The white sand beaches, warm water and island entertainment make it almost paradise.
Ko Samet is an island I knew nothing about before arrival, the Russians and Eastern Europeans clearly know about the island though they are everywhere. Luckily the guesthouse we were told about was away from the central beach where the majority of the speedboats land on the island. The guesthouse was nothing more than timber shacks with mosquito nets covering the beds. It was basic but cheap and a style of accomodation I wasn't sure you could still find in Thailand.
The island doesn't come to life till late afternoon and then it steps up a gear at night as the beaches are converted into bars and the fire displays begin. Boys as young as ten were demonstrating their fire twirling skills while hundreds of people watched on.
On the weekends there is also Mauy Thai (Thai Boxing) in the ring in front of the guesthouse we were staying in. I am glad I did not pay the big money to see it in Phuket, I did get a feel for what it was like and had watched enough by the fourth of fifth fight. Again boys as young as ten were in the ring fighting each other.
A couple of days was enough to relax and laze around by then I was ready to move on so I got back to the mainland Thailand on a ferry with Tim and Karen and made our way to Pattaya.