School Daze

As I enter into my fifth week of teaching, I figured maybe it would be a good time to finally blog about it. I am teaching at the Thawangphapittayakhom School. Basically, it is the secondary school which consists of 7th thru 12th graders. I am teaching Matayom 3 (9th graders) and Matayom 6 (12th graders). Each Matayom is further divided into 8 classes with anywhere from 25-45 students in each class. So, if you do the math, I have 16 fifty minute classes each week and around 600 students. Depending on their year, they have English class 2-4 days a week with their Thai English teacher. Mostly, they just learn grammar and everything they need to know to pass the University entrance exams. We take one of their classes each week and do conversational work. It is amazing how much they know when it comes to reading and writing. I mean, some really complex sentences. But, you try to ask them basic questions like, "Where were you born?" or "What is your favorite food?" and they just stare at you like you're crazy. The major problem, of course, is that they have been learning English since they were young from a Thai person. So, even what little conversational work they did, they learned English with a Thai accent. On top of that, most of the Thai English teachers know English grammar better than most Americans, but they can't speak hardly at all. This makes for interesting lesson planning. I went in the first weeks thinking I would try to tie my lessons with what they have been learning in their books. I very quickly learned that their speaking skills are nowhere near what they are able to do in their books. The other problem of course is that they are notorious cheaters and it seems to be widely accepted by the teachers. In The States if you cheated off of another student on an assignment or god forbid, a test, you would get a talking to and probably an F. Here, it is just what they do. I have sat and watched the students taking a test, and watched while one student fills in the answers and just passes his/her paper down while everyone copies. I have seen this with the teacher standing right there watching. Odds are that in a given class, there are probably one or two students that actually understand and the rest have just been copying them since 1st grade. We were told during orientation that the Thai education has it's issues, but I wasn't expecting this. Other problems range from some of the teachers being just as lazy as the students to the fact that the students don't seem to have to show up to class half the time.

As I said before, each Matayom is further divided into 8 classes. They are divided based on skill, so all the really good students are put together and the worst students are put together. Besides the obvious motivational issues that this causes, it also makes the behavioral issues even worse. For example, my 3/1 and 3/2 classes are evil. They show up 20 minutes late (which, I am usually thankful for) and when they get there they are fighting and running around. They do not listen to me and are completely defiant. I usually end up spending the entire period just quietly staring at them or yelling at them. On the other hand, my 3/7 and 3/8 classes (some of my best students are pictured left) are so excited to learn English that they will stay after the bell rings to keep learning. They are so much fun and have so much positive energy that they immediately make up for the other sections of satan spawn. They pretty much make it all worth it.

Outside of the classroom, the students are really great. A lot will just come by the English office to talk to us. Many of them just love to yell "Hello!" at you from across campus. Even when I have had rough days where I am not happy to be awake or am dreading teaching a class, these random shouts in English inevitably have me smiling within minutes.

For the Love of Farley

Many of you have met my dog Farley or heard me talk about her over the years. My sister Tracy brought her home the summer after my freshman year of high school and she was quite truly the size of my hand. We thought she would stay super tiny, like a chihuahua or a miniature doberman, but she grew into her big paws and ended up as tall, skinny, and goofy as the rest of the Peterson family. Her best feature was her ears. They were big and stuck straight up, and they always reflected what sort of mood she was in or what she wanted from you. Sometimes, she would get this serious look on her face and her ears would flatten out like airplane wings. We would always joke that it looked like she was coming in for a landing.


I can barely type the words without tearing up, but she passed away last Friday. She was fifteen years old and even though I knew it was bound to happen soon, that never makes it any easier. Half my life was spent with that dog, and I remember many nights when she was such a great comfort to me when I was sad or lonely. Both my parents were with her at the end, and I am thankful for that. Though, I wish I could have been there to say my goodbye. With the news of her passing, I have felt my first bout of homesickness here in Thailand. It's strange how something like this can make me wonder what the hell I am doing here, on the other side of the world, away from all the people that I love.

However, as most of you know, I am a survivor of sorts. I know this will pass and I will be less emotional about it as days go by. I am still very happy to be here, getting to experience all that I have so far. I really wouldn't change a thing. Feeling sad is one one of those things that always made me feel so alive, and as some of you know I sometimes embrace crying wholeheartedly. Having said that, I believe that it is good for me to experience emotions like this in Thailand.

Farley, you always were my baby puppy and I will miss you.

I promise that the next post will be more upbeat!

Chiang Chiang Chiang, Chiang Mai

After spending a week in tranquil Thawangpha, we decided that we should venture over to Chiang Mai for Halloween. Our adventure began early on Friday morning. After hitching a ride to Nan we found out the bus to Chiang Mai was sold out. We ended up taking a bus to Den Chai, and then a motorbike taxi to the train station, where we were able to catch a train to Chiang Mai. What should have been a 5-hour bus trip turned into a 12-hour day of travel. I have officially learned firsthand why everyone says that buses are faster. The train was freezing cold and would just stop and sit on the tracks for what seemed like no reason. My first impression of Chiang Mai was that there are more farang there than Thai people. White people just ooze out of every crack, and after not seeing any other farang for over a week, it was kind of shocking. The good thing about this is that there are all sorts of non-Thai restaurants there. For example, we were able to eat pizza one night and it was wonderful. The downside is that it just doesn't feel all that authentic and you get a glimpse of why farang have the reputation they do in Thailand. There were soooo many older white men walking around with really young Thai women. The women are so young looking here anyway, so it's hard to tell how old they were, but it left such a bad feeling in my stomach. Anyway, we went to a bar called Warm Up that night where they were sorta doing a halloween themed thing. It was mostly college-aged Thai kids, but there were definitely other farang. We had a little fun dancing and drinking, but we ended early as most of us were pretty tired. The next day we got up and did some walking around and hit up some of the great shopping in Chiang Mai. Once we could shop no more, we decided to check out Doi Suthep, a temple that is on top of a mountain just outside of Chiang Mai. The day was kind of misty and rainy, but I think it made the experience all that much better. After taking a taxi to the top, we walked up 200 steps, lined with dragons up to the temple. Once at the top, we payed the farang fee of 30 Baht and walked around. On the outside of the temple there were kids performing traditional Thai dance and there was a view of Chiang Mai to die for. Within the temple, there were various Buddha figures that had people praying and lighting incense. We stood in a little line to have a monk-like older man (Monks can't touch women, so I think he was some sort of stand-in) tie white string around our wrists to wish us good health and long life. It was an amazing place and I highly suggest going there if you are ever in Chiang Mai. In the evening, we decided to go check out the Muay Thai Boxing where there was supposedly going to be a Brit fighting. The venue was just awesome. It was outdoors except for where the ring was and it was completely surrounded by open air bars with all sorts of scantilly clad women and ladyboys trying to get you to come into their bar. The first fight was the 100lb class, but these were the smallest little boys that I had ever seen. I was a little nervous about watching two 10-year olds beat each other up, but no blood was shed. The video shows their little warm up routine they do before each show, which I thought was better than the actual fighting.
Later on we watched the Brit (who turned out to be French) knock out his Thai opponent much to the delight of the farang and dismay of the Thai. We approached him afterwards to tell him he had a good fight and he mentioned that his group of friends was heading to Warm Up (the same bar we went to the night before) afterwards if we wanted to hang out. So, we ended up at the same bar two nights in a row. We met him and some of his friends and they all turned out to be English teachers as well. Once that bar closed we went over to Van Bar (which is quite literally a VW bus turned into a bar) and met even more English-teaching farang. In fact, the bartender and the waiter were the only Thai people there. We hung out there until about 5am, just socializing and drinking. It was a really nice crowd of people and it was great to hear the stories of the farang that had been teaching there for years. By the time we left and got back to our guest house, the sun was coming up and we had an 8 o'clock train to catch. Needless to say, I think that Chiang Mai kicked my ass. For more pictures, check Facebook or click here.

Fell Asleep in Bangkok and Awoke in Tha Wang Pha!

The excuse: As it turns out, cell phones work better in Thailand than they do in the States, but as for internet, not so much....at least not out here in the boonies. Wireless is pretty much non-existent and the one internet cafe in town just randomly closes for days at a time. However, I am still dedicated, so don't give up on me! We got into Tha Wang Pha almost two weeks ago now. We pretty much left immediately after getting back from Katchanaburi. A small group of us that were heading to the Far North were dropped at the bus station with notes pinned to our shirts that read, "Please take care of our white friends". Okay, not really, but it's not that far off either. I think that being at the bus station was my first I'm-living-in-Thailand reality check. We were truly the only white people in the entire place and, let's just say, folks were staring and have been ever since. Marianne, Shaleas, and I took an 11-hour overnight trip to Tha Wang Pha on a VIP bus that played Thai music videos when they wanted you to wake up. Fortunately, everyone was very friendly and they even made sure that we got off the bus when we were supposed to. Granted, it happened to be the side of a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere, but I think they were looking out for us. It was quite amazing to fall asleep in dirty ol' Bangkok and to wake up as the sun is coming up in such a beautiful place. Everything is so green and lush and the mountains and misty clouds make it look like something from a calendar. Our coordinators; Cru (means teacher) Noi and Cru Rin were amazing to us that first week we were here before school started. Because our apartments weren't quite ready for move-in, they put us up at a guest house in town (see photo). To put things into perspective, Tha Wang Pha is a small town located in an already very rural part of Thailand. The closest "city" is Nan, which is about 40 kilometers away and has a population of about 30,000. If I had to guess, Tha Wang Pha might have about 5000 people if you include some of the surrounding smaller villages and the stray dogs. Needless to say, we are the ONLY white people in this town, and by the way they stare at us I wouldn't be surprised if we are the first white people to come to this town, which I think is pretty awesome.

Our first day here was the last day of the longboat races in Nan. As best as I can tell, these races are what Nan is known for and they are a pretty big deal. Our coordinators took us into Nan to see the festivities and although we ended up barely missing the final race, we were still able to capture the winning team in their celebration. There was a lot of really great energy and was a fabulous introduction to Nan Province!

After the races we met up with Cru Rin's husband and some of his buddies at this very delicious restaurant. We proceeded to drink some beer and talk about the things that people who don't speak each other's languages talk about.....how to count to 10 in Thai and English and what the names of the foods on the table are. It was quite hilarious once we realized what we must have sounded like! One, two, three.....neung, seung, saam! We finished off the night with a ride back to Tha Wang Pha in the back of the pick up truck, looking up at the stars, and getting rained on...priceless!