Flooding in Thailand

There's a severe flood going on in Thailand right now (please be sure to keep the Thai people that live in these areas in your prayers). Due to this, we changed our plans from Lopburi and Chiang Mai to Cha-Am beach. Trust me though, I'm not complaining - I love any excuse to visit the beach!!! We departed from Bangkok around 10:30 A.M. on a full minibus at Victory Monument. It was an interesting experience to say the least and we were the only Westerners on the minibus. We stopped for gas after probably an hour and a half and then when we got back on the bus we saw the sign for "Cha-Am Beach" but we kept going. We thought that was odd. Then we started to see road signs for Hua Hin which is PAST Cha-Am...so we started to worry a little bit. When the bus finally stopped, we got out and find a nice young couple that spoke a little English and they were able to help tell the bus employees what had happened and they told us to wait and we'd get on another bus free of charge to Cha-Am. Well, it was time to load our bus so we got up front with the driver, stowed our bags, and got comfy. After about 20 minutes, we were told to get off because it was full. Really people?? It was definitely frustrating, but what can you do when you don't speak the language?

So we found a Taxi driver who brought us from Hua Hin to Cha-Am for 350 baht (this was AFTER we haggled with him. I really tried for 300.). 30 minutes later we were driving down the main beach road here in Cha-Am and looking for our hotel. Our hotel is a small one here in Cha-Am so it was an adventure in itself finding it, but luckily I spotted it and the Taxi drivers let us out and we were helped with our bags. Of course when we got to the hotel room it wasn't ready yet so we decided to go for lunch. After that we were able to check in, and get suited up for the beach! I put my bikini on with shorts and a tank top and headed down to the water. Only problem was I was the only one in a bikini! I was too paranoid to even take off my clothes, except my shorts, I didn't want to draw more attention than we already do for having blonde hair in Asia. We hung out there for a while just people watching and enjoying the scenery. It was crazy. Vendors are all over the beach. They sell beach toys, fruit, and even squid!

After that we decided we were hungry and got ready for a nice seafood dinner on the beach. We walked quite a while just to get to the fishing pier and eat on the beach. It was really nice though, although the food was only mediocre. We even made a few homeless animal friends that we were able to give our leftover food to. The restaurants were really neat though. All along the pier there are seafood restaurants with tubs of fresh seafood that you can pick out yourself and have cooked right there. Talk about fresh! Can't get any better than that.

Then on the walk back to the room, we stumbled upon this little park area with a big, fat buddha inside. It was amazing!!! Before entering the park however, we got the evil eye from some cows that live there apparently. I'm still not sure what the buddha means or what the park was for but I have full intentions of doing research. Here are a few pictures...I'll have lots more stories from the Cha-Am beach soon.

change is inevitable.

I have survived one full week of my job! I love it! It was so much fun! I shadowed the other Kindergarten teacher all week and then she was out on Friday so I had both of our classes combined. It was about 16 students total and I was so incredibly nervous but it ended up being so much fun!!!! How could anyone not want to teach those sweet little things? (Ok so maybe I got spit on but still..) It's a blast sitting in a circle with them and have their undivided attention because they actually WANT to learn. It's a great feeling. This week is a break so I have my own classroom of 8 students starting a week from today. I plan on getting a lot of decorations done this week (I'm making a lot of them) and working on my first 3 days of getting to know you activities with them.

For an actual vacation I'm getting on a train tomorrow at 8 am and heading to Lopburi (monkey town!) and then going on to Chiang Mai for a night. I'm so excited. I don't have much money so I'm being frugal and only going for one night but I still think it will be fun - especially since we arrive at 5 am! :) This will be my first overnight train ride. I will be sure to post lots of pictures of all of the insanity, especially with the monkeys!

I also just moved yesterday. I'm on the complete opposite side of Bangkok and it's awesome. The apartment feels like an actual home since it isn't one giant room like I had before. It's great! Still unpacking and getting things done today! It's starting to feel like home though :) !

Also, be sure to check out my new videos on my YouTube channel.

Day 1 of teaching:

Well, it is finally here. I finished my TEFL certificate last week and start my first teaching job here in Bangkok tomorrow!!! I'll be teaching kindergarten at a school that I really like (I won't disclose where but it's a good school and the kids are too cute!). I can't wait for tomorrow! I am nervous and excited, but in a good way. The only negative is I'm basically on the other side of BKK until I move this weekend, so I'll be leaving here around 6:00 AM!!! That is SO early!

I'm shadowing the other kindergarten teacher for a few days to get a feel for things and then I'll be let loose with my teaching assistant. I am not sure what to expect...AT ALL! I have the class schedule per week but haven't received books or materials to begin my lesson plans. It will all work out though, I'm sure of it! Wish me luck!

chinatown.

Today, after putting the deposit on my new apartment, I hopped on the MRT and went to Hua Lampong to visit Chinatown! I had visited with my dad last November but we didn't see much of it and after hearing about the Execution Chamber I realized I desperately needed a trip back! After a tuk tuk driver attempting to haggle us, we decided to simply follow the signs and take a nice afternoon stroll to Chiantown. Passing areas that I distinctly remembered from my dad and I's father daughter trip was bizarre but made me feel even closer to Bangkok. One of the first things we saw down the road we went was this giant temple. It was gorgeous, but was a little pricey so we just took a gander at the remarkable wat from the outside. It's design reminded me of a smaller version of the Grand Palace. The details were similar although the Grand Palace is HUGE, especially compared to this little wat.

It's so weird knowing that I'm in Bangkok (especially after having been here for 2 months now) and then all of a sudden seeing Chinese writing and architecture everywhere! It's crazy. Some parts reminded me a lot of my trip to Hong Kong, especially the herbal medicine shops that we saw. It's also a vegetarian festival here in Bangkok so a lot of the dishes we saw were vegetarian. I saw lots of salads and of course, fruits everywhere. Lots of different smells. But don't get me wrong, you can smell fish (and durian) from miles away. I think that basically goes for any part of Bangkok though, even China Town.

We were planning on following this walking tour that is in this Thailand book I have but once we got to Chinatown there was just so much to do that we ended up seeing nothing on our list...but it didn't matter! We put the map and the book away and just explored. I love Chinatown and will definitely be back. To take it all in we stopped at this little bar on the street and people watched for an hour (and enjoyed a nice cold Chang). It was some of the best people watching I've ever done in Bangkok. I set up my tripod and bloggie while we were there and did a quick time lapse video, so check out our view from the bar at: www.youtube.com/cotimicheleasia. I'm sure I'll be back and maybe this time we will even make it to the Execution Chamber and I'll post some pictures of that. Either way it will be another Bangkok adventure! :)

TEFL school...all work and a little play!

Well, I'm reaching the end of TEFL school to get my official teaching certificate. It's come and gone so quickly. I actually enjoyed it for the most part, although the amount I have actually learned is yet to be determined. I have definitely changed over the course of the 4 weeks, I get up in front of the class for presentations with little to no nervousness which is a HUGE step from the beginning. My very first presentation my teacher said that he was scared because I wasn't even breathing in between sentences. I definitely am breathing now! I've also slowed down my rate of speech drastically. It's amazing to see how each of us has changed, it's really a great thing to watch. Everyone has improved and I think we're all going to make great teachers. Here are some pictures from our class. We do work, but we also find time to play. All photos are courtesy of a classmate, Art Brondo. Thanks Art! :)