Life outside of school

Although most of the day is consumed by school I'm trying to do something new every day outside of school that helps me get a little more settled or knowledgable about my new life in Thailand. The week days are often exhausting and I'm so tempted to take a long nap as soon as I get home (which sometimes I do..) A normal week day doesn't involve anything too exciting, especially because it's been storming most evenings, but I have managed to get down somewhat of a small routine. 

School finishes at 3:30 each afternoon and Emily and I stand near the gates to greet parents and say goodbye to our students. We're home by 4 each day and take a quick shower to rinse off the day. Our school has many windows and fans, but it's no competition for the days that quickly soar into the 90s and a shower is greatly needed before doing anything productive. Because we don't have a kitchen we always go out to eat. Sometimes we'll just dash across the street to the market, bringing stuff home to eat in our room. Other nights we make a trek to the mall which is about 10 miles north of us. We hop into a song taew (the trucks mentioned in a previous post) and arrive at the mall within 20 minutes. Although I'm doing my best to adjust to this crazy asian culture it's kind of a breath of fresh air to have the mall nearby. There are some decent restaurants inside where we can find american food (salads, pasta, pizza) and there's also a great food court that offers a wide variety of Thai foods. It's nice to be able to find everything we need all in one place, and it's also a joy to be inside air conditioning. Even at the mall we still stand out and many people have asked if we're teachers; it seems that tourists just never make it to this area, so it's the only logical reason that we would be here. 

The clouds as seen from Koh Lan Island

Ferry ride home from Koh Lan Island

Our weekends have allowed for more free time and exploration. Last weekend the 5 AYC teachers in the area took a trip out to Koh Lan Island, which is a 25 minute ferry ride off the coast of Pattaya. A lot of the water near the mainland is polluted and filled with fishing boats, but the beaches and water around the islands is pristine and clean. It was a surprisingly chilly day (by Thai standards) and rather overcast, so we didn't swim, but we still enjoyed our day wandering around the beaches, eating fresh fruit and doing some shopping. The islands are the stereotypical views that most people conjure up when they think of Thailand: small stalls selling coconuts, shops selling beach gear and everyone walking around in bathing suits and hats. I love that some of these islands are so close to us and I look forward to returning soon.

I couldn't resist a picture with Ronald doing the typical Thai greeting of a "wai"

Our school provides all of the teachers with free lunch each day which has given me the opportunity to try countless new foods over the last two weeks. The majority of Thai foods are spicy enough to turn my face red which is always a source of amusement for the other teachers. We're often told "this isn't spicy for us, so it's kind of spicy for you, don't take too much!" Most teachers can't translate the foods into English, so I'm never fully sure what we're eating but each day there's always one or two things that fills me up.

Observations

- Whenever we go to a restaurant the waitress hands us the menus and then stands at our table until we're ready to order. At first this stressed me out because I felt pressured to pick a dish quickly, but now I'm able to ignore them until I'm actually ready.

- "Restaurant" is a lose term for where we often eat in Thailand. It's usually just a small outdoor or three-walled hut type thing with a handful of tables and a tiny kitchen, sometimes just a hot plate and mini fridge. The food is often made one dish at a time and comes out whenever it's ready. That being said, I've quickly ditched the habit of waiting to eat until the whole table is served. Here, you eat whenever your food comes out because it could be a full 20 minutes until everyone is served. 

- Practically every store and restaurant I've been to in Thailand has been overstaffed. Because restaurants don't have full kitchens there is really only room for one or two cooks, yet you'll see five people standing behind the counter. A visit to the cellphone 'store' (a corner with a desk) staffed six employees. There was barely enough room to fit a customer into their area. I've been employed for over seven years and every job I've had was a follower of the rule "if they're not necessary, send them home." Money is tight here and I'm very curious about minimum wage/general payment information, because everywhere I go seems they can afford to pay employees to stand around. I'll have to do some scoping and get back to this later! 

- Thais value light skin. Those who are tan have obviously been in the sun a lot, which often means they are working class. The children at school are fascinated by my white skin and countless teachers have called me beautiful because I'm "white, and not ugly tan like Thais." I'd heard of this stereotype before arriving but was somewhat startled with how seriously it's taken. The darker your skin the less you are valued. The popular kids are the lighter kids, and those who are shunned or bullied are almost always darker. Our visit to the beach last weekend also proved this theory strong because the majority of the Thais there were swimming in their clothes. Even on the beach in 90 degree weather the only ones we saw in normal beach attire were foreigners who aren't afraid to get tan.