I Moved!

I moved to a new site!  You can find all of my new blog posts, travel tips, random thoughts, teaching stories, and travel adventures on www.mypleasedpassport.com

I’m excited to announce this move as I’ve worked very hard on my new site.  The layout and design are much easier to understand and it will include more than just my time in Thailand.  I will have past stories from my trips to other places around the world and the future adventures that await.

If you are currently subscribed via email to this blog, you will not be transferred over to the new site.  Please re-subscribe on my new site to stay connected to my life abroad. This website (kaytadamson.wordpress.com) will be turned to private in 2 weeks time.

I appreciate everyone’s support with the beginning stages of my blogging. I can’t wait to see what else I can accomplish in this atmosphere of great writers! Thank you!

www.mypleasedpassport.com

My Birthday Weekend in Kanchanaburi

I constantly hear people say, “do it while you can!” or “do it while you’re still young.”  When I started telling people I was moving to Thailand, these were the go-to phrases from some older co-workers and family friends. These statements used to drive me crazy. I never wanted to have the mentality I couldn’t go after a dream because of my age or because my responsibilities were “in the way.” Obviously there’s more to it than just the drive to accomplish something.  Life takes off right before your eyes and you don’t even realize it’s happening.

Ayutthaya, Thailand

Hi Everyone! It’s been awhile.  The past few weeks have been busy but not in an adventurous way.  My students are finishing up different subjects randomly and I’m testing and grading worksheets and workbooks far more often than my first few weeks.  Busy is good though!  The past two weekends I’ve stayed in Chachoengsao and relaxed; but, I started to feel like time was slipping away and before you know it, I’d be back home in California wishing I did more while I was in Thailand. So, I planned a quick trip to Ayutthaya for the weekend.

Koh Samet, Thailand

This Friday was the Thai holiday, Teacher’s Day.  Luckily we had the day off and decided to do a quick weekend trip to Koh Samet.  Koh Samet is a small island in the Rayong province, Southeast of Bangkok.  It takes about 2.5 hours to get there from Chachoengsao (where I live) and is a fairly inexpensive destination.

Overnight English Camp

It was my first week teaching at a new school and my kids are CRAZY! They have so much energy, so much excitement, and their eagerness to learn is adorable.  I taught in the classroom Monday-Wednesday and was told I needed to chaperone/teach at the overnight English camp for the P1 (1st grade) English Program students Thursday-Friday.

New Home: Chachoengsao

What a weekend! I moved to Chachoengsao at the beginning of the week to teach at a new school.  Originally, I was placed in Nonthaburi to teach high school science.  Funny story – I do not have any qualifications to teach science.  It wasn’t conversational science either (is science ever conversational? I HAVE NO IDEA! I don’t understand the subject at all!).  I took one science class in college.  I was a senior in a freshman chemistry class. If that helps you understand how little I actually know about the subject.  Anyway, it was obvious I was uncomfortable and I told the school that I felt I was not a good fit for who they needed as their foreign English teacher.  It was a hard departure as I really liked my students, the school, and my Thai family.  However, I knew it was not the right place for me.  So, I moved!

My Thai Family

On my first day teaching at Triamudomsuksa Pattanakarn I met a woman in the teachers lounge who spoke very little English.  We were able to understand that she wanted her children to be tutored after school every day of the week and on weekends.  Normally, I would be like, “woah, lady! I need a day to recharge myself and relax!” But I just couldn’t say no to this sweet woman.  Also, I didn’t really know what I signed up for.

My Thai Christmas

This was not my first Christmas away from my family.  I’ve spent one Christmas with my boyfriend’s family and it was amazing.   As much as I missed my own family, I am truly blessed to have a second family that took me in during the holiday season.  However, this Christmas was the first Christmas away from any loved ones.  I moved to Thailand a month ago, and to a new city less than a week ago.  I do not know anyone here.  But, thankfully, my school still took part in some Christmas festivities. Like Christmas hip-hop (oh yeah!!) and some

English Camp

My last two days in Hua Hin have been nothing short of insane!  A mix of good and bad insane.  Our group was hosting an English Language Camp at a local school for two days – Thursday and Friday.  This school does not have a western English teacher; however, they have thai teachers teaching English classes.  Pronunciation is not perfect, so our entire job was to focus on pronunciation… oh and classroom management. These children are WILD!

The King of Thailand’s Birthday Celebration

The Thai people absolutely love, love, love, their King.  And no one celebrates the Thai King’s birthday better than the Thai people.  December 5th is a very important day for the Thai people, it was the 87th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or King Rama IX, the world’s longest reigning monarch. As shown in my pictures, there was a huge celebration in Hua Hin, which is where the King resides.  He is currently in poor health, due to age, and was in Bangkok during his celebration.  However, most cities hold a ceremony to show their respect.

Culture Week

This week has been very busy.  I’ve barely had time to sleep!  XploreAsia is giving us Thai language classes and culture/history lessons almost every day.  We’ve taken a Muay Thai class, visited a monk at the Khao Tao Temple, played with dogs at RescuePaws, ate pineapple at a pineapple farm, and fed rescued elephants at the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation, and had a beach BBQ.  Needless to say, I’m exhausted – a good exhausted!

Welcome to Thailand

I’m officially in Thailand! And let me tell you, it feels AMAZING!  I’ve been planning this move for months and time flew by up to this point.  Now the adventure begins… and it begins in Bangkok.

All I knew prior to coming to Bangkok was that it’s huge, hot, and humid.  All of those points are true – especially humid!  Walking out of the nicely air conditioned airport to the transporter van was like jumping into a pool of your own sweat (paints a nice picture, huh?!).  Around 3AM I arrived to my hotel, The H Residence.  After a quick shower, I climbed into bed and tried to sleep for a few hours.

Day One: Bangkok
My first day of exploration was overwhelming.  The heat and humidity, the constant traffic, the smog, crazy drivers, and the millions of people everywhere was a lot to take in.  First, we took a tuktuk to Wat Pho.  Wat Pho is known for the famous Buddha statues and the very famous Reclining Buddha. The Reclining Buddha is too big to fit in one picture!

TukTuk

Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha

I ate my first Thai meal – Spicy Pork Salad.  So spicy! and SO GOOD!  The street food in Thailand is fresh and made with all locally grown fruits and vegetables from the wholesale markets all over the city.  Street food, as shown in the picture below, is everywhere! Every block has a few stands.  You’ll never be hungry in Thailand, that’s for sure!

Spicy Pork Salad and Coconut

Street Food Cart

Day Two: Bangkok

Saturday was spent at the Chatuchak Market.  The Chatuchak Weekend Market has over 15,000 vendor stalls ranging from home goods, clothes, food, jewelry, to animals.  I was on a mission! I wanted to see the puppies, eat some great food, and buy some clothes.  Unfortunately, it was a heartbreaking seeing the puppies.  You aren’t allowed to touch them or take pictures of them.  They just sit there and cry and look so uncomfortable in the heat.  I took pictures anyway…oops!  After 5+ hours of walking around, we spent 250 baht (roughly $7.75) for a one hour foot and shoulder Thai massage.  It was a painfully perfect experience, that I will relive often.  For the entire hour, I had a hammer banging into my muscles (literally) and bamboo sticks rolled over my calves.  I didn’t walk away from the massage feeling relaxed – I felt alert.  Just what I needed 😉

Meat and Seafood

Fried Rice and Thai Green Tea

Puppy getting a bath

Day Three: Bangkok

This was the last day in Bangkok.  Unfortunately, jet lag and the heat caught up to me.  I spent most of the day in my hotel room and out of the humidity.  There was a meet and greet meeting for the new teachers and we went over what the rest of our orientation period will be like and talked about how we find our placements.

Overall, Bangkok is wild.  I can’t think of any other words to describe the city.  I’ll be back soon to check out the roof top bars, see the Grand Palace, and do some more shopping.

Next stop…. Hua Hin!