Hi everyone,
I am here in the small town of Nadun in northeastern Thailand, and things are very amazing and wonderful. I could not dream of more. I live with a very kind family: a grandmother, father, and mother, and two daughters aged 16 and 7. It feels like a fairy tale, the way Vita put it in her writing.
The people here treat me like I am royalty, which feels very strange and hard to accept. The people are very excited to have a foreigner in the town. It is the first time they've ever had a foreign teacher at the school. The kids are a lot of fun and really excited to learn English. They are highschoolers from 13-18 years old. It is great that I have bery little experience teaching, yet here I have the opportunity and freedom to just jump in and be a teacher. I can experiment and learn as I go!
There is so much that is new, so many experiences that I don't even know where to start. I could talk about the people, the ups and downs of adjusting to a completely different way of life, the food, the countryside, the kids at the school and working in a different country. It is very hot and tropical. I am in a flat part of the country in the North-eastern Isarn region. It is not touristy, and what the people here say is the "real" Thailand. There are lots of rice fields and people are starting to harvest the rice.
I've been here in Mahasarakam province for almost a week now. I've started teaching and gotten settled into my homestay. Later in the week the school had sports days which is three days of sports competition at the school. The student body divided into teams and competed against each other in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track as well as some other Isarn sports like stilts and gunnysack racing. There are about 1,000 students at the school. The teachers have been very nice and welcoming. I teach for about four hours a day. Overall it is incredible to be here doing this.
I've been thinking of all of you. Thank you to those of you who have written me back. It means so much to hear from you when I am so far from home. Even though I've been here almost a month, it is still just starting to sink in that I am really here, and the foods, plants and regulations, and schools I know in the U.S. are a completely different world from the one I find myself in now!
The food has been very amazing, lots of rice of course, spicy food, salads, fruit, different curries and soups with coconut milk and vegetables and meat, and these little packaged banana leaf packets filled with rice and other various things. There is also a lot of people here who raise silk worms and do weaving.
It has been very interesting trying to communicate with people in a different language. My Thai is improving every day, but I still know next to nothing. A lot of people do know enough English to communicate, however, and so that is a big help. I keep getting mixed up between the languages, trying to speak slowly, use Thai when I can and think of Thai words, and then switch gears when teaching to just use English! I laugh at myself for all the mix-ups; my brain is full to the brim.
I traveled with Florian for about a week, and then met up with Volunthai in the city of Korat. From there I did two different English camps with the other volunteers, five of us total. I went to an amazing national park near Korat and saw monkeys, waterfalls, and even a crocodile. I was with the other "farang" (foreign) volunteers for a week. Then I left for my homestay on Halloween (yes I was thinking of the U.S. and being nostalgic for fallen leaves and glowing pumpkins).
I will do my best to write regularly.
A big hug and best wishes to you all,
Love Siena RETURN