When I got back from Malaysia, the staff were lucky enough to have another day off midweek due to a national holiday, so Grace and I decided to venture to the Zoo! Of course, it was nothing we hadn't seen before but it was a good way to consume half a day of activity. The one thing I didn't like about it though was how the animals were so reliant on the spectators giving them food; I mean this in the sense that kids were just throwing bananas at the animals (and pretty mug any animal you could think of...I didn't even know Hippos liked bananas?!) and you didn't see a zookeeper in sight.
Later that week, we headed to the National Park (known as Khao Yai) to go Go-Karting. All of us decided to go and we were all pretty stoked for spending a good hour or so speeding around on go-karts...nope, it was only 10 minutes...and perhaps the quickest 10 minutes of my life. We managed about 6 laps of the course and then had to go. Apart from the short amount of time, it was nice to drive out of Korat into the countryside more; especially as I was unable to camp at Khao Yai with the rest of the group the weekend before. It was actually a surreal experience because it very much didn't feel like I was actually in Thailand...you'd look at the rolling hills and scenery and think you'd be in Wales...but only 20 degrees hotter. haha. In addition to the go karting, they had a tiny farm with bunnies, goats and tiny horses so we spent a little time petting those. (Again...never thought I'd ever be feeding a goat in Thailand...)
In the evening saw the reunion of Ruby and Desmond! They had been with us during our orientation in Bangkok but both went to different schools to teach. However, as circumstances changed they have now transferred to Assumption and the original group of 7 are all back together and its a great feeling! We met to go to the BBQ fest which Korat was hosting. It was essentially a country-western themed festival with clothes stalls for the wannabe Thai Cowboys and cowgirls out there...and well as lots of food stalls which were (surprise surprise) mostly Thai food and not a lot of BBQ (that I saw anyways)...like where were the BBQ ribs at? Also, they had a giant stage with acts that played country music, but in Thai...that was quite something...and with the whole place being decked out like we were in the old west, it provided a great opportunity to take pictures.
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| Cutest convict in Thailand? |
It was so nice to see Ruby and Des again, not just to see them again to catch up, but in the sense of seeing a fresh face we can speak English to and not always be conscious of if we are speaking too fast or if my new 'broken english' sounds too patronising or not (seriously, it's like I don't even speak fluent english anymore - "How do you spell that word?" goes to "How you spell?" and "I do not understand" to "No understand" - I just speak in set words, instead of my brain putting them together to form a sentence). It really has just become the default now as, like I've mentioned before, many people in Korat do not speak a word of English.
As the first half of the semester is drawing to a close, and Christmas fast approaching, the school has really got into the holiday spirit. Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" greets us in the walking as we walk on to campus, Decorations are all over the school ranging from tinsel around all the rails, to mini Christmas trees in the classroom and finally a giant tree, navitity and Thai flag made of fairy lights in front of our office. It seems such a contradiction seeing all these Christmas-y things and being in warm weather but it somewhat gives us foreign teachers a little taste of home and being in the Xmas spirit.
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| Christmas Tree!! |
Next week will play host to a massive staff Christmas party put in by the brothers on Christmas Eve. I have been asked to choreograph and perform a routine with the other foreign teachers and I'm really excited for it - we are doing a medley of tracks (you'll have to wait to see what they are) and it's been so nice to fill the dancing void I've been having really since I left uni; especially from seeing those dancers at Yamo too (remember I told you about those?). So at the moment, my free time has been devoted to perfecting the routine ready for all the teachers to see...yikes.
In true fashion of Christmas, some of the foreign teachers decided to do a Secret Santa, which culminated in a wonderful meal last night by a lake (I forget the name of the restaurant) but they bring your food over on little boats! The food was delicious and although mostly fish based, it was welcome change from the crappy school meals I had all week (sorry Assumption...). Being there with everyone just confirms to me how much fun I'm having here and what such a family unit I have become part of. I'm really considering staying here a little longer...
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| Assumption Family! |
As I'm writing this, I'm heading to bangkok for an English camp hosted by the school. I'm so excited because the moment I was asked to do it, I was constantly reminiscing on my times at Sealth and was so eager to put my "camp counsellor" hat back on and ssibg songs and play games etc.
The really cool thing about this camp is that we are doing at a WATER PARK. Ahh I'm so pumped for this. Will post updates when I get back.
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