Hello Everyone,
I am so sorry that I have not been in touch for a while. I took an elongated hiatus due to many circumstances. I am sure most of you know this, but at the end of June, I had the unlikely fortune of ending up in the hospital with Gallstones. It was a very scary experience and I had to spend my Birthday in the Thai hospital. However, it did teach me a lot about health care in different places and how important it is to have people supporting you wherever you go. I have to say that the school and my friends here really stepped up to the task of caring for me. I can not imagine having to go through that all alone 6000 miles away from my family and friends. I can also say that financially, it was probably better to get sick in Thailand then in the states right now as my entire week hospitalization cost the equivalent of $1,400.00. As my father said, this was cheaper than my sister had to pay for an emergency operation that her dog Zooey needed, funny huh!
After this two week period, the death of my grandmother, which happened on my birthday in Thailand, hit me pretty hard. While I knew that this was coming, and there was nothing that I could do about it, the fact that I was not able to be there at the end was horrible. It really made me think of mortality and the fact that people will not be around forever. In any event, I was swept up in midterms after this which was busy but good to take my mind off of all the things that were going on. Thus, I am finally getting a break and being able to catch up on all my miscellaneous things that were put on hold during the insane month of July.
After looking over all my posts, I realized that I really have not filled you all in on exactly what I am doing here in Thailand, I promise that it is not just partying! I am actually working at a school called Satit Kaset about an hour southeast of Bangkok in the Chonburi Province. Here, I am teaching high school level students, the equivalent of Grades 8, 10, 11, and 12. And let me tell you, this is completely different from what I was doing in India. In addition to the basis differences of class, the school I am working at now is a private prep school, actually having guidance in what to do and how to teach is a huge help. However, I also find it a bit daunting, in the sense that the kids do not want to listen, really don't care about English, and frankly would rather be playing with their IPhone. Now I am sure that those of you who are reading this and have taught before are probably nodding your heads and laughing because I assume this is not much different than what happens in the states. What I think this has shown me though, is that I really do not like teaching. I find myself wanting to just sit and have a chat with the kids. I want them to tell me their life stories and how things are at home. or discuss ways they feel that Thailand can improve. I guess in the end, the social worker in me out rules the teacher. All this being said, I still do enjoy the kids I work with and do care about each of them, I just do not think I like the teaching part oppsies haha! In any event, it has put good ideas into my head about what I want to do in the future and grad school..
Now, other than things in school, I have also just been enjoying Thailand thoroughly. It really is a beautiful country full of new surprises everyday. The people are very nice and it is a vast and colorful culture. The weather is good, if not a little to humid and hot, and I have seen some amazing monsoon like storms! I even have found a boyfriend, a British boy who is also teaching English. So all in all, I think my decision to come to this country was a great one and I am happy to be here!
I hope that you all now have a better perspective on what I am doing all the way out here and I will write again soon! Hope the end of the summer celebrations are going good and that everyone who is going back to school next week, is ready for it!
Love and Miss you all,
Alyssa
I am so sorry that I have not been in touch for a while. I took an elongated hiatus due to many circumstances. I am sure most of you know this, but at the end of June, I had the unlikely fortune of ending up in the hospital with Gallstones. It was a very scary experience and I had to spend my Birthday in the Thai hospital. However, it did teach me a lot about health care in different places and how important it is to have people supporting you wherever you go. I have to say that the school and my friends here really stepped up to the task of caring for me. I can not imagine having to go through that all alone 6000 miles away from my family and friends. I can also say that financially, it was probably better to get sick in Thailand then in the states right now as my entire week hospitalization cost the equivalent of $1,400.00. As my father said, this was cheaper than my sister had to pay for an emergency operation that her dog Zooey needed, funny huh!
After this two week period, the death of my grandmother, which happened on my birthday in Thailand, hit me pretty hard. While I knew that this was coming, and there was nothing that I could do about it, the fact that I was not able to be there at the end was horrible. It really made me think of mortality and the fact that people will not be around forever. In any event, I was swept up in midterms after this which was busy but good to take my mind off of all the things that were going on. Thus, I am finally getting a break and being able to catch up on all my miscellaneous things that were put on hold during the insane month of July.
After looking over all my posts, I realized that I really have not filled you all in on exactly what I am doing here in Thailand, I promise that it is not just partying! I am actually working at a school called Satit Kaset about an hour southeast of Bangkok in the Chonburi Province. Here, I am teaching high school level students, the equivalent of Grades 8, 10, 11, and 12. And let me tell you, this is completely different from what I was doing in India. In addition to the basis differences of class, the school I am working at now is a private prep school, actually having guidance in what to do and how to teach is a huge help. However, I also find it a bit daunting, in the sense that the kids do not want to listen, really don't care about English, and frankly would rather be playing with their IPhone. Now I am sure that those of you who are reading this and have taught before are probably nodding your heads and laughing because I assume this is not much different than what happens in the states. What I think this has shown me though, is that I really do not like teaching. I find myself wanting to just sit and have a chat with the kids. I want them to tell me their life stories and how things are at home. or discuss ways they feel that Thailand can improve. I guess in the end, the social worker in me out rules the teacher. All this being said, I still do enjoy the kids I work with and do care about each of them, I just do not think I like the teaching part oppsies haha! In any event, it has put good ideas into my head about what I want to do in the future and grad school..
Now, other than things in school, I have also just been enjoying Thailand thoroughly. It really is a beautiful country full of new surprises everyday. The people are very nice and it is a vast and colorful culture. The weather is good, if not a little to humid and hot, and I have seen some amazing monsoon like storms! I even have found a boyfriend, a British boy who is also teaching English. So all in all, I think my decision to come to this country was a great one and I am happy to be here!
I hope that you all now have a better perspective on what I am doing all the way out here and I will write again soon! Hope the end of the summer celebrations are going good and that everyone who is going back to school next week, is ready for it!
Love and Miss you all,
Alyssa
Sawat dee Kah, Naito!!! So happy to hear you are doing well, and really sorry for your hospitalization and loss of your Grandma earlier this summer. Always nice hearing what you are up to. It is so inspiring to read about your travels, hopefully we can expect more blog posts again soon!
ReplyDeleteLove and miss you, and hope you take advantage of all that Thailand has to offer.