Teaching

It's been awhile sense I've mentioned teaching. I really do spend a lot of my time teaching.

Teaching is getting better. I'm learning how to manage a class much better. How to get the students attention, most of the time. I two biggest factors I've learned to help me in the classroom are realistic expectations and games. I have a much better feel for my classes. I can design the content of the lesson at the level of each class. Games are so important. The more games, useful games the incorporate primarily listening and speaking are key. Writing is also important, but the students do enough writing and grammar in their other English classes. Many of the older students know more about grammar than I do. I couldn't tell you what a reflexive pronoun is or the what the perfect present tense is. I avoid grammar and stick to what I know.

Teaching is getting easier and more enjoyable. I'm glad I only have a month more of teaching, but I'm confident the last month will be a lot smoother than the first.

My Free Time in Tak

My life in Tak is pretty simple. I don't have TV (actually I have a TV, but get 5 Thai stations, not that entertaining) and I don't have internet at my place. The are tons of internet cafes, but I usually only use the internet when I'm at school. There's a small fitness center that I go to everyday. I spend most of my free time reading or walking around the town. I walk up and down the streets and say hi to people. I speak the little Thai I know and locals speak the little English they know. When I tell people about what I do it sounds really boring, but I'm not bored. I'm less bored here then I was back in the states. I usually travel on the weekends and go see a new town. I've settled into a nice routine. Which is a good thing, but not entirely. It was exciting when everything from getting laundry done to buying food seemed like an adventure.

Last Weekend: Lopburi and Ayutthaya

This last weekend I went to Lopburi (the monkey city) and Ayutthaya, which is the old capital of Thailand. I was able to see Patrick and Vanessa on this trip. I met them while I was in Phuket when I first got to Thailand. These are by far two of my favorite people I've met sense I've been here. They both really easy going and fun to spend time with. I always find myself having great conversations with them about life and nothing all at the same time.

Patrick is a talented photographer and he is the one who gets the credit for these pictures. We went to the historical park in Ayutthaya and saw the ruins. I am done seeing ruins. If I happen to see some that's great, but they are all starting to look the same to me.

At the park we came across a family of stray dogs. There were 8 or 9 puppies that were adorable. I wish I they weren't so dirty so I would have felt alright to play with them. I can't bring myself to petting street animals. I feel like I can see the ticks and flees on them. On the other hand Vanessa was playing with the dogs and she didn't have any problems with the bugs.



Everyone should checkout Patrick's blog: http://patricknobles.blogspot.com/. He has some more pictures about this last weekend and that tells a better story than I do. Hope you enjoy.

Climbing in Lopburi

This last weekend I went climbing in Lopburi with my friends Vanessa and Patrick (See pictures of them on previous post). This is my second time rock climbing and it was just as amazing as the first. Climbing is such an intense physical challenge. I love it, the challenge part at least. I could imagine climbing Half-Dome or anything like that, but I get such a rush from finishing a climb.

The climbs were much harder this time compared to my first time. I definitely had to cheat to finish one climb, use a metal loop as a foot hold and I did grab a branch, but I finished the climb.

Repelling is by far scary than climbing. That first step is the hardest.

A well deserved rest.

English Camp at Taksin National Park

I never thought I'd say this, but I got really cold in Thailand. This last weekend we had English Camp at Taksin National Park, which is a little more than an hour west of Tak. I was told it would be cold, but I thought the Thai teachers were over-exaggerating. I shivered the whole night. I wore everything I brought, but the wind was going right through my jacket.

The camp was only 36 hours, but it felt a lot longer. The camp went really well. I was the MC (master of ceremony) and sang and danced more then I really wanted to. It took so much energy for me to get up and entertain the students. I had a really good time. The students and all of the teachers had a good time too. I'm really happy that it is over and that it is only once a year.

New Years in Chiangmai

I had a great time in Chiangmai for New Years. There was a huge group of "farang" (foreign) teachers meeting in Chiangmai, 15 or more. I have only seen a few of them sense Phuket. I felt like I was seeing old childhood friends even though I have know them for less than three months. I had a great New Years, but my battery in my camera died and I don't have many pictures that night. All I know is by the end of the night I had a too much Thai whiskey and had a great conversation with a French couple at a roof top bar.

So I played in my first softball game. I swore I would never play softball in the states. Eric, Kelly, Porsh and I were driving through Chianmai University and we came across a softball tournement. My friend Eric and I were so excited. This was the first time I've seen anything close to baseball. I asked one of the teams that was eating lunch if Eric and I could play catch and the next thing I knew they wanted us to play a game the next day. I was so happy to hold a bat and throw a ball. The team we played on was a team for a university from Lompburi. It is a city about 8 hours south of Chiangmai. The team was already good without the two farangs and we beat the other team 15-0. I did well. I hit a homerun. I had such a good time. This was one of the highlights of Thailand. I'm going to saying remember that time I played softball in Thailand...

The team asked us play the rest of the tournement, but Eric and I didn't think it was right sense there were guys sitting on the bench because we were playing. The rest of the trip was great, but I had such a good time playing softball. Just putting on a glove and playing catch was a thrill.


This is a picture of new years dinner. It was at one of the most beautiful resturants I've ever been to. Eric is sitting next to me, then Aaron (not sure, Eric and Kelly's friend from their town), Porsh and Kelly. The prawns were amazing. The prawns were more like lobsters intead of prawns. This dish and the green curry were the highlights of the meal. The last picture is me on at a mountain temple in Lampun.