Wat a Week!

What a week it has been!

After my first week of teaching, I am tiiiired. Annika and I have such full days! I guess this is what real adult life is like.We start out our mornings by getting up to have breakfast at about 8:15am, then teaching the English class from 9-10. We begin the school day by playing a song, one that a student will send in via Google Classroom. They typically choose songs that hold lots of meaning to them, but sometimes they just send in songs for fun. Then, we lead some sort of vocabulary word activity, with a focus on vocabulary words that the students will need to know for their content classes. This week, they were learning about globalization, so we focused on economic terms that they need to know, for example: transnational corporations, capitalism, and subsidies. We played vocabulary bingo and had the students make concept maps! We also introduced idiom Tuesdays in order to help them gain more conversational knowledge. This week we taught them "don't count your chickens before they hatch" - we went with a bird theme because one of the students really enjoys bird watching.  I believe that they really enjoy playing these games and practicing their English, because these students are so intrinsically motivated to further their language skills. I'm so impressed by how good these students are at English, and how high their goals are! I think they'll be fluent in no time.

Concept map for the word "globalization"

After our class, Annika and I observe the content classes for the day. The students have class from 10:15-12, then lunch from 12-1:30, and then back in the classroom from 1:30-4:45ish. This semester, while Annika and I are here, they learn about the issues within their communities and within the Mekong region. When they return for second semester in September (after having done some field research in their hometowns), they will learn about how they can go about solving these issues and protecting their people and rights. After classes, I sometimes will go out and play badminton or basketball with the students, other times I will just do a body weight workout. Then I shower, eat dinner and prep for the next day. Sometimes, students will come up to Annika or I at night and ask us to help them with word meanings or grammar. Other nights, Annika and I just hang out and watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail (it's on the Netflix here!)

Because we are about 20 minutes outside the city of Chiang Mai, it's a bit harder to just go out and explore the city and find activities to do, especially during the week. But, I did go bike riding the other day for an hour and a half! Some of the students, Annika, Hom (our guide to ERI - a former student who stayed to work for the school and shows us around Chiang Mai and who is also just super cool), and I just decided to go on a spur of the moment ride. We went around the local area along side roads and through different towns, all while having the beautiful mountain scenery in the background. It takes my breath away every time. While on this trip, we stopped at a few different wats! They are truly magnificent, with the most intricate detailing. I even was able to hear monks chanting and practicing their daily rituals.

Bike Ride!
Pictured L to R: me, Annika, Khoa, Hom, and Phong

Yesterday, the school staff organized a trip to the Mae Ngat Dam, the water supply for Chiang Mai, which was about an hour away. It is a beautiful reservoir that was enclosed by green mountains, and adorned with floating houses. Some of these buildings are actually houses, but many of them are restaurants where people can have a meal and play around in the water. We spent all day at this restaurant that had water inflatables and kayaks, and it was so much fun! It was really nice to spend time with the students and school staff just soaking up the sun and becoming closer as friends.

Water Trampoline!
L to R: Phong, me, Annika, Yargar, and Khoa

Last Sunday night, most of the students came with Annika, Hom and I to the Sunday Walking Street Market in the city. I kid you not, we were there for three hours and were walking among shops and vendors the whole time. Both sides of the main street were lined with shops, and sometimes they were in the middle of the street too. There were even a few wats snuggled in the middle of everything! Vendors were selling basically anything you could think of: clothes, toys, soaps, food. And it was all so inexpensive! It was great for my shopaholic side, a little less for my wallet (to be fair, I packed my suitcase knowing that I would need room for souvenirs). One thing that I found interesting was that there were so many white people there. I suppose it is summertime and many people like to travel, but still I was surprised.

While it was very busy, this week was a really good one. I am thrilled to be getting closer with the students. In addition, I am really happy to be practicing my teaching and lesson planning skills. So far, I've heard that the students are enjoying the activities that we are putting together for them. We're also starting to bring in online tools such as Quizlet and Socrative, which I believe will be really beneficial for them as well! Just have to do what I can to help them in the best way possible.