Teaching in Pattaya... a short synopses

It has been a week since my last update because the Hotel in Pattaya had very little free wifi and we were very busy from the break of dawn and through out the night. Early Sunday morning at 6:30 we met the students at the university to ride some pretty sweet charter buses. They were double decker. So Waymon, Andrew, Rachel and I sat on the bottom level. It was so nice because it was made to sit 12 people so we could stretch out. On the way to Pattaya we made a few short stops for the restroom and at a market but we did not get out because we were scared we may get left. Once we arrived to the Sigma Resort we went into the conference room and then headed to lunch.

All of our meals were served at the hotel. For breakfast it was a buffet. But Lunch and Dinner the camp leaders sat at a table and the servers brought out plates of food for us to have on the table. Most meals consisted of white rice, spicy pork, noodles, veggies, chicken and other various things.

The meals at the hotel were very delicious. After the lunch on Sunday we then went back to the conference room where each group had a huge table that was white board so you could write on it with white board markers. Also each table had a marker board too. That after noon I taught lesson on out of the lesson plan book. It was about getting to know the students and just learning their language skills.

Since I did not blog everyday this week I am going to make this short and sweet. Each day we did the same thing basically. Breakfast was served at 8 every morning. We taught our groups from 9-12 with two short breaks. Lunch was served 12-1 and then it was back to the classroom. My group of students were wonderful. I had 7 girls. They were all very sweet and excited about improving their English skills. They all were on a different level with their English, one of the girls did a lot of translating for me when I couldn’t break it down simple enough. But all in all it wasn’t too hard getting directions across. My most favorite part of the lesson plans were the sections were the students had to do sounds drills. Many of the letters are hard for the to pronounce, I could tell a difference through out the week with each student. It made me proud. I loved reading the writings I would have them do everyday. Each student was very eager for me to correct their work. Learning English is one of the most important, if not the most important thing, they can do to get a better job. During the evenings after the camp was over with we would all swim, eat dinner shower and get ready for a fun night. Each night Emily, Brittnii, Andrew, Waymon and I went to walking street. It is where all the bars, restaurants and shows are. To put it in a mature matter it was an enlightening experience. I felt that we became regulars in most of the places because we mad the same path every night basically. In order to get to Walking Street we took a Baht Bus, which is the back of a pick up truck with a cage around it. You may remember the guys riding in a Baht Bus in Hangover Part Two. It cost us around 40 Baht a person one way which is about $1.30. Spending time together at the night was what all of us camp leaders needed after a long day of teaching. But then we were back up and at it every morning at 8:00.

While teaching we would play a lot of word games like hangman, categories and other fun games to break up the intense learning. One day we taught them hoe to play Marco Polo, but it was very loud so that was a one time game. Each lesson had many different parts to it, but all centered around the same general idea. A big thing I did in my group was tell the students about how that particular subject we were talking about was in America and then they would tell me about in in Thailand. I would ask questions if they didn’t have much to say. After each discussed it in detail I would have them write about it. One thing I really enjoyed was the lesson on geography and lifestyle. First I drew a map of the US and labeled things then I got the students to name things so I could tell them where they were located. The Thai students also drew a map of Thailand for me. I did a similar thing with houses. It was interesting to hear and see a floor plan for a Thai house or apartment. I really enjoyed getting to know each student and teaching them English.

It is now Monday afternoon in Bangkok, yesterday we went to the Largest outdoor market in Asia. It had 1500 vendors. Talk about mind blowing. It was super hot even though we went at 8 in the morning. We stayed half a day and them came back and all crashed and took naps then hit the pool. Ew all decided it was a bit early to et a fun night started so Emily, Brittnii, Logan, Waymon, Andrew and I went to see America Reunion. It was hilarious. We had super reclining seats, which was wonderful. Before dinner we had KFC, I know that sounds bad but we all had a  yearning  for American food. After the movie we went to KhaoSon Road for a fun night. Today we got to sleep in. at ten we went to the Grand Palace of Thailand. It was very colorful with gold leaf and mosaics every where on the building. There was a very large emerald Buddha in one of the temples here. His clothes are changed four times a year.  If I heard correctly the clothing he had on today cost $1000000. Afterwards we went to a temple that had a statue of Buddha laying on his side that was the size of a house. I will post pictures soon. Once again I apologize for the lack of blogging, I am just taking in everything Bangkok and Thailand has to offer in this short time that I am here.