Koh Samet

On Friday, Chachoengsao held a parade in respect for the buddha in our local temple. The parade started at 8:30 and was pretty insane - all the schools get involved and build these huge, elaborate floats and the students dance in the hottest clothes for hours in the sun. There was a Chinese dragon, school bands and circus folk galore. After 3 hours directly in the sun, we were all exhausted and ready for our vacation.

Sarah, Beth, Kevin and I all went to Koh Samet - an island about 2 hours from Chachoengsao. We successfully left our city and went to Chonburi to catch a bus to the ferry pier but the bus station seemed to not exist anymore in Chonburi. After much gesturing and confusion, we discovered the bus station had moved and had to take our first harrowing motorcycle ride for $1.50. After finally arriving at the bus station, we had to wait an hour and then we were finally on our way to the ferry. We boarded the ferry on a 2x4 - things are just done differently in Thailand...We reached the island at sunset on Friday and went straight to the beach to watch the sunset over the water. I instantly fell in love! We stayed in a beach hut on the island which consisted of a double mattress on the floor surrounded by a mosquito net. Bugs were surprisingly not a big problem as we basically camped in the jungle and waking up to the sound of the water was absolutely amazing! We spent the whole day lounging on the beach and even got a massage for about $4 for a half hour. We ate dinner on the beach too and watched a fire show which was very cool. The food was not that great but drinks were cheap and there was lots of free entertainment. On Halloween, the whole island gathered to play games on the beach and I partcipated in the fire limbo. On Sunday, we lounged on the beach again and then had a 4 hour trip back to Chachoengsao (because we had so many transfers). It was a fantastic weekend and my Mondays are pretty easy teaching so I had some rest time at work.

Exactly today, I have been teaching for 1 whole week, even though it feels like a lot longer. It takes 2 weeks to make copies here - multiple heads of department have to OK our material so Sarah and I pretty much have our voices alone to teach these kids English. That involves a lot of horrible drawing on the board and wild gesturing. When I get back to the states, it's going to seem like I talk condescendingly to everyone because I have to speak sooooo slow and gesture wildly for anyone to understand me. My favorite thing so far is that the English teachers in our department literally don't speak English - so they teach all these kids incorrect verb forms, pronunciation, etc. and it has already become a habit so it's very difficult to correct. Sarah and I are chugging along but still getting used to working without any support whatsoever from the school. Most of my classes are really fun, I only have 2 or 3 really bad ones so the kids make it more enjoyable. I'm off to class right now but I hope to hear from everyone soon!