Well, I've been over here for almost three weeks now so it's probably best that I start my blog before I start forgetting what I've been doing. Quite a few of you don't even know I'm here as it all happened so quickly but I no longer live in England :0). I applied for to teach English as a foreign language at the end of September and was offered a job and asked to be in Bangkok for the 8th Oct! It all happened very fast and so I didn't have time for a leaving do or to say goodbye to a lot of people.

In all the rush to get everything sorted i.e. visa's, trying to sell my car etc I was just on auto pilot and so when I got here my head was spinning at what I had actually done! I am so glad I have done it though as I have been longing for an adventure for years and so this is it!

So, after suffering with jet-lag and a chest infection for over a week I finally started to settle into the training at work. I am still training and it is fun although a lot to take in. The company that I work for is called Fun Language and they use a teaching process called TPR (total physical response), which basically means that you put actions to words and teach English through this process. You teach at a very slow rate, so maybe just a couple of sentences for children (Prathioms 5-10yrs approx) and a matter of words for (Kindergartens approx 2-4yrs). So far I have sat in on a few classes and they have been lots of fun. The children are so well behaved and very cute. You mainly teach through playing games and singing songs as Fun Languages ethics are based on English being taught through fun so the students enjoy the class and learn at the same time. There are obviously massive cultural differences and so certain rules have to be followed. I have to take my shoes off before entering a class room, you cannot point your feet towards anyone or towards any shrines of the King or Buddha (which are EVERYWHERE!). I have to keep remembering not to drag things with my feet, it sounds silly but dragging something closer to you with your feet in order to pick up is not allowed. You won't get told off if you do so as Thai's will not tell you their dislikes to your face but they will still be offended. I taught two classes last week, both of which were in a temple school and it was volunteer work for underprivileged kids. The first class I taught were around 5-7 years old. Many classes have a variation of ages as the system out here pretty much relies on what level they are at appose to their age. Therefore, a 10 year old child that cannot say hello, goodbye or thank you may well find themselves with pre-school babies.....though I haven't come across this yet. One of my classes that I took were a success as one of the trainers basically shadowed me and helped with all activities. Whereas the other was a different story! I was fully prepared, had all my songs sorted, games planned and as soon as I stood in front of the class I froze! I forgot all the words to my songs and couldn't remember how to play the games....horrible! Luckily someone was there to guide me through and give me a bit of moral support but I guess it's going to be like that for a while or until I find my feet. The good thing about this company is that every foreign teacher gets a thai teacher to accompany them through the classroom. So, any new language structures can be introduced in Thai but mostly English is used in the classroom. Hopefully I'll be able to pick Thai up a bit quicker once I start proper teaching. When I have completed training and start teaching my day will consist of getting to the office and hour before I have to be at the school, jump into a taxi with my TT (Thai teacher), drive to the school that I'm scheduled to teach at, teach a couple of lessons, lunch and then either 3 or 4 lessons after. We then get a taxi back to work, prepare materials for the following day, write up lesson plans for the following week and were done for the day.

After three nights in a hotel, me and all the other TEFL teachers that started on the same day were shown around apartments. After looking at a few, I found one that fitted the bill. In fact, so did 10 of the fellow TEFL'ers and so we all live in the same block of apartments.......it's like being back at uni....very dangerous! So, I have myself a nice big room which is my bedroom and living room. The bed is huge and fits three pillows across, which I really don't understand because all of the Thai's that I've seen have been no more than 5.5 foot high and that's the tall ones! Off of this room is a small kitchenette which is basically a sink, a cupboard and a fridge.....no oven, though I have bought a worktop hob which does me. The street food out here is so cheap that you don't really need to cook an evening meal as it's the equivalent to about 80p for a decent yummy Thai dinner. My place is about a 20-25 min walk from work which is nice as I get a bit of a wake up walk in the morning or if I'm feeling lazy I can get the bus, taxi or tuk-tuk but seeing Bangkok traffic in the morning....I have stuck to walking as it's quicker! The only bad thing is the heat on the way there.....it's not nice but I get to walk into air conditioning which is a nice welcome after a power walk in 34'c 94% humidity....yuck! Back to my pad...I have a separate bathroom with shower, sink, loo and the largest mirror to do my make-up and hair at....fab! I have air con, internet (when it decides to work)and hot water ....all for just £135.42 per month....ding-dong!

I was beginning to get annoyed that my keep fit regime was starting to suffer as it isn't easy to run in this heat! I have managed two 30 min runs but it just exhausts me and really isn't enjoyable. Luckily, I have found a gym about a ten minute walk from my flat. It is a Thai army complex with gym, swimming pool, restaurant and they do aerobic boxing classes.....YES!!!!! And, an abs class........DOUBLE YES!!!!! I was so happy when I found it as this place is going to be my haven for three or four times a week......I'm going to need it I think! I went there last night with a fellow TEFL teacher and we did a little gym session and then a few lengths in the pool which was lovely! I now feel like my tough mudder training is not going to waste........three weeks without the gym for me was horrible but now I can get back into it :0)

Anyway, enough from me for now and I'll tune in soon with some more exciting news as and when it happen.

Laters potatoes!!!

xxx