Mae Sot Weekend

Our Canadian friends and travel buddies, Jess and Alex, were placed in Mae Sot. We decided to take a weekend and visit their neck of the woods. Mae Sot is a 9 hour bus ride or about an hour plane - again we chose fast and went with the plane. Mae Sot is in northwestern Thailand right next to the Myanmar border. Because of the location, it is one of the most diverse areas in Thailand; Burmese, Karon, Hmong, Thai and Westerners all live in the area. It is difficult to know the exact population of Mae Sot because of the constant influx of Burmese refugees. There are estimates of about 30,000 people, but there are also estimates of over 100,000 refugees in the greater Mae Sot area. Compared to Chiang Mai and Bangkok, the town feels very small in size. Having said that many areas are very busy, much busier than a town of 30,000 people should feel.



Only two flights go between Mae Sot and Bangkok daily, because of this we took a personal day on Friday to catch the cheaper flight option, this also allowed us more time. At the airport, we breezed through security again and made the long trek to our gate. At the gate, we boarded onto a minibus that drove us to the airplane. A small 25-30 passenger, propeller airplane would be taking us to Mae Sot. This made for a loud flight, and sadly we did not have a window in our row- the only row in the plane with no window, sad day!

The airplane we took to and from Mae Sot.

Love the songthaews!

We arrived and hopped in a songthaew, a pick-up truck with bench seats in the back, and rode to our hotel. We've decided that songthaew is our favorite way to travel in Thailand! We checked-in to our hotel. We loved the amenities of this hotel - hot water, a soft bed ,and fast reliable internet! Alex and Jess met up with us at the hotel, we rented bikes, and off we went for some delicious 20baht ($0.66) per plate pad thai. After lunch we hopped on our bikes and followed Jess and Alex as they gave us a tour of Mae Sot. We stopped by a little stand to get some sugarcane juice, which we were told was very good. The juice lady started using a machine to crush the sugarcane and extract the juice. We all got a bag of this green juice. It is a different taste, but as we drank more and more it started tasting better and better.

Next up was their house and school. On our way, we stopped at a little market and roamed around for a bit. Beth purchased some super comfy pants, she was very excited about them! We rode a bit to the edge of town where they live. We scoped out their huge (our new standard of huge) bright lime green house. We were quite blown away at the size of their living quarters compared to ours - one room was almost twice as big as our whole apartment. Guess that is what you get living out of the big crowded city.

Their school was next. We were excited to see how they school compares to ours. Wow - what a difference! They have a much smaller K-12 school and are the only two English teachers in the school compared to 16 foreign and another 10 Thai English teachers in our school. They took us on a little walking tour around, students stopped in their tracks when they saw two more westerners in their school. It was actually very comical to see their reactions. After the school tour, we ate some ice cream at a shop next to the school. We were very full of all the different things we tried that day!

Before supper that night we enjoyed some games and music. After games we hopped on our bikes and headed to a great restaurant, Casa Mia. Amazingly great food and huge portions!!

After a great nights sleep and breakfast we headed out on our bikes alone, while Jess and Alex were tutoring a few students from their school. The whole town is easily navigable by bike but you must remember where you turn because roads are not straight and the signs are not in English (In Bangkok they are in both English and Thai.) At one point we rode right through a herd of goats on a dirt road, it felt like were were in a completely different world in this part of town! We continued riding and made our way all the way to their house which is nearly out of town. We all grabbed lunch together, at a Canadian restaurant. We were so surprised at the amount of cute little restaurants (many offering western dishes) Mae Sot has to offer! They also have tons of little shops, and everything within a short bike ride! This is very different from what we are used to in our neighborhood, no one would dare ride a bike on our busy streets.

Woke up with this view - awesome!

After eating, we played some basketball. Beth got to show off all her basketball skills! haha. Now off to the pool to cool off. After cleaning up we relaxed a bit, and played some Farkle (dice game). Now off to the Saturday night market to find supper...and bugs ....to eat.

At the beginning of the market we saw one of Alex's students break dancing with a group of other break dancers, so they did a little performance for us. Then we started walking, stopping briefly to check out cute clothing. Then we got to the food section. First up - BUGS! We had researched earlier what each bug tastes like and the best way to eat them - we were prepared! We choose silk worms. Beth was first up, the lady handed her a free one - not bad crunchy and salty. Alex was a little more daring and ate a grasshopper. We ordered a bag of worms to share.....ok we didn't finish the bag but we munched for a bit. It really was not that bad - dry, salty, and crunchy.

To supplement our bug appetizer, we grabbed some chicken and sam tam (spicy green papaya salad). We made our way out of the market, rode our bikes to our next location - the nightlife street. We decided to finish our snacking meal with a whole fish, salted and roasted over an open fire, served with cold noodles, a variety of greens, and peanut sauce. Very tasty!!! After taking in a some live Thai music from a local band, we headed back to the hotel, time for bed.

The next day, Sunday, we all rode our bikes to grab a late breakfast, yet another cute little cafe with great food! It was time to say goodbye, until our next travels. We hopped back in the songthaew and headed back to the airport. This was the smallest commercial airport we have ever seen! We walked through minimal security, then out onto the tarmac to our plane. Got a window seat this time!!

Another great trip! :)

Jake Visits!

Jake came back into Thailand Sunday evening and would be here until Saturday morning. Sadly English Camp and Jake's visit overlapped, we gave him a few interesting things to see and do in Bangkok. We had researched some other places to see together later that week.

Tuesday afternoon, we returned from camp and met up with Jake for a New Year's party thrown by the director of the school. We explained to the teachers the situation of Jake being here and we wanted to be with him, they all told us to bring him to the party - so to the party we went. People in Thailand know how to throw a good party! On arrival we were all given red Santa hats, people here also love Christmas. We sat down and the marathon of group pictures started. Jake was pushed into many of these photos also - guess he was temporary Wat Khema School staff for a night. We ate, we chatted, we danced, and we listened/watched to other teachers as they performed on stage. We also got gifts. Josh got a towel, Beth got sweet traditional Thai pants, and Jake a traditional Thai waist wrap thing.

Foreign Languages Department...and Jake 

With the School Director and our Department Head

At one point all of us were pulled up to do a traditional Thai dance, it was a lot of detailed hand moves - we need more practice at this one to look like pros! At another point, Beth was pulled up by the director of the school (major big deal in Thailand) to the dance floor.  He is kinda treated like a celebrity and Beth felt like she was with one by all the cameras snapping away. We had an enjoyable night.

Trying to teach me the hand moves

Wednesday, we did not have school because it was teachers day, so the plan was to explore some of the city. Jake and Beth (Josh did not feel well) visited our neighborhood market then enjoyed peaceful massages, and took a tuk tuk ride. We ventured down to Khao San Road for lunch, light shopping, and to take in the culture: sites, smells, sounds, and tastes. We ended our adventure downtown Bangkok then hopped on the BTS Skytrain back home. Another great day in the city.

Tuk Tuk Ride!

Thursday, Beth had no classes Thursday and Friday because her students were gone on a trip, however Josh still had classes. Trying to make the most of Jake's visit, Beth took Josh's classes on Thursday (what a wonderful wife) so Josh could spend the day with Jake. (*Sidenote - whew! I now know what it is like in some of his classes..wow!!) They went out on the town exploring. We had our big night out in Bangkok at Soi Cowboy... interesting.

**Another sidenote - our air conditioner broke right before we left for English Camp, so we had arranged for it to be fixed Thursday. Thank goodness - it was getting a bit hot in our apartment!

At Soi Cowboy

BTS Skytrain

Friday, we both took the day off to spend with Jake. We visited the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok and wandered around downtown Bangkok for a bit. We enjoyed the pool for the afternoon into the evening. We had a lovely supper riverside that night. A great way to spend our last day together in Bangkok.
 

Bangkok Sunset

It was so wonderful seeing Jake in Bangkok! We had a great time! :)

English Camp - Hua Hin

Josh and I were asked to chaperone a 3 day English Camp. This camp is very different from the day camp we chaperoned in December, as we quickly found out. It would be us two, along with four other foreign teachers, planning the learning activities, preparing the camp handbook. and designing a camp banner. We've been working on these items for 2-3 weeks prior to camp.

We departed Sunday morning and would return Tuesday afternoon (bit of a schedule problem with Jake arriving Sunday night, but more on that later). All 80 students, 5 Thai teachers, and 5 foreign teachers loaded onto the buses and started the 3 hour journey to Hua Hin, a town on a beach. This day was filled with site seeing and tours of famous landmarks near and in Hua Hin before going to our hotel.

The first site was Marukathayawan Palace. This palace was built using teak wood in 1923 for King Rama VI. This massive Thai style palace was built right on the beach. Hallways between rooms are all open air. It is a huge compound with lots of beach! It is a beautiful palace and a great place to see the extravagance of the Thai Royal Family.

Back on the bus for our next site. Because of some chaos at the first site, we sat all the students down and explained in detail what they needed to do at each site - huge improvement! Crazy how much better things go when all parties involved are prepared. Next was Huai Mongkol Temple. This is a huge statue of a monk who lived over 400 years ago, he was made famous because he performed many miracles. We met with our teams of students and completed tasks, then had free time to walk around. This is one of the biggest statues I've seen, and with such detail too, it was quite the site!

Back to the bus for our last site of the day - Sam Phan Nam Floating Market. Again we met and completed tasks with our teams then were free to explore. This market, designed around a lake, was neat to walk around.

Josh working with his team

Next we went to the beautiful hotel right on the beach. We had an opening ceremony, where the speeches we wrote were spoken. Then off to bed for another full day the next day.

Up early for breakfast then back on the bus to Pranburi Forest Park. The five foreign teachers went into the forest to set up for an "amazing race" type activity, then the teams of students came in one by one to complete each task. We really enjoyed this activity and park.

Back to the hotel for our afternoon English activities. Each one of the foreign teachers designed an activity geared towards a specific English skill. Josh's focus was speaking and Beth's was listening. After this rotation activity we met with our teams to create a presentation based on a site toured during camp. Later that night each team presented their project. The kids also received some free-time to swim and play after they finished their projects.

Josh - Team Presentation

Beth - Team Presentation

On Wednesday night, after the students had gone to bed, a few of the foreign teachers ventured out into the sea for a night swim. It was low tide so we had to walk a long way to find water. The water was crazy because some patches had glow-in-the-dark algae! Whenever you moved in the water it looked like glitter - pretty! There were also small crabs (dime-sized) on top of the sand under the water. Whenever we would put our feet down on the ground, we could feel them digging into the sand to escape.

Tuesday morning, after breakfast, we had closing ceremonies and awards were given out. Then back to Bangkok.

The Five Foreign Teachers

All the Teachers on the Trip

Wow, we sure learned a lot about taking school trips in Thailand! You must be patient - things do not always get done in the most sensible way or on time. You must be kind - even if you think a task could be done more efficiently or practical.  You must have an open mind - culture is very different here and things are done differently. You must be able to adjust - a schedule is not designed to be accurate, you must be willing to change and bend. Overall, it was a very delightful camp, we enjoyed getting to know the English Program students and our colleagues better, and seeing Thai cultural, historical, and natural sites.