Study Abroad Success
Teach Abroad in Thailand
Angela: OK. So mostly you're eating out then?
Karen: Yes. Because eating out is extremely cheap in the city. The exchange rate is about thirty...The Thai currency is Baht, B-A-H-T, and the exchange rate is thirty baht to the dollar and I can get dinner for less than a dollar.
Angela: OK.
Karen: So about 25 baht.
Angela: So what's your daily schedule like in Thailand?
Karen: I wake up around between 6:00 and 6:30 and I have to be at work at the school by 7:30. We meet outside around 7:15 and we bike to the school and the school is like a four?minute bike ride away. It's very close. So we bike to the school and then we have to sign in and then we go...
And we usually get breakfast from...There's a morning market a hop skip and a jump from our school. So we go and get breakfast there. And breakfast in Thailand is interesting. They don't really differentiate the foods. People could have fried chicken and rice for breakfast. Sheep don't...cause we're not use to that.
And we usually get breakfast from...There's a morning market a hop skip and a jump from our school. So we go and get breakfast there. And breakfast in Thailand is interesting. They don't really differentiate the foods. People could have fried chicken and rice for breakfast. Sheep don't...cause we're not use to that.
Thailand
They do some sticky rice, which is like a sweeter version of rice with that version. And they do some other things that I like. Kind of less sugary doughnutish and they also have lots of fruits. Bananas, oranges, pineapples, apples, and lots of other Thai fruits that we sometimes eat.
We'll have breakfast and we have about an hour to prepare before we start teaching at 9:00. That's when school officially starts.
And we typically have to be at school from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Well that's in the school you have to be there the entire time. But I only teach on average three or four hours a day. So I usually have two or three hours free. They provide us lunch at the school. So we eat lunch at the school usually.
Then we leave school around 4:00. Run whatever errands we have to run. Then the evening we can turn in early and just kind of hang out here, watch movies. We might go hang out with some of the other farang's. Farang's is the term for westerners, F-A-R-A-N-G.
Angela: OK.
Karen: So there are probably about twenty or thirty other westerners in Naan teaching or working in some other capacity. So we know a few of them, a few of them. So we might get dinner with them or I started going to Muay Thai, which is a Thai martial arts. I started doing that this week, which has been very fun. So I might do that in the afternoon. [laughs]
Angela: Oh that's sounds great though. What are your favorite Thai foods and do they taste any different from the Thai foods over here?
We'll have breakfast and we have about an hour to prepare before we start teaching at 9:00. That's when school officially starts.
And we typically have to be at school from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Well that's in the school you have to be there the entire time. But I only teach on average three or four hours a day. So I usually have two or three hours free. They provide us lunch at the school. So we eat lunch at the school usually.
Then we leave school around 4:00. Run whatever errands we have to run. Then the evening we can turn in early and just kind of hang out here, watch movies. We might go hang out with some of the other farang's. Farang's is the term for westerners, F-A-R-A-N-G.
Angela: OK.
Karen: So there are probably about twenty or thirty other westerners in Naan teaching or working in some other capacity. So we know a few of them, a few of them. So we might get dinner with them or I started going to Muay Thai, which is a Thai martial arts. I started doing that this week, which has been very fun. So I might do that in the afternoon. [laughs]
Angela: Oh that's sounds great though. What are your favorite Thai foods and do they taste any different from the Thai foods over here?
Karen: My favorite Thai foods are possibly... I really like Pad Thai, which you can get in the States. What you get in the States in terms of Pad Thai, it's pretty comparable at some places to what I've had here.
Angela: OK.
Karen: They do a noodle soup, they make a broth and then they put in noodles and bean sprouts and other seasonings and then whatever kind of meat you want, either pork or chicken, I guess they do fish, too. We usually do pork or chicken. And that's depending where you go very, very good.
Angela: OK.
Karen: They do a noodle soup, they make a broth and then they put in noodles and bean sprouts and other seasonings and then whatever kind of meat you want, either pork or chicken, I guess they do fish, too. We usually do pork or chicken. And that's depending where you go very, very good.
My students in five-one and six-one are much better behaved than any fifth and sixth grade class I've seen in the states.
Karen: My students in five-one and six-one are much better behaved than any fifth and sixth grade class I've seen in the states. I know the six-five is not usually as well behaved.
And, so, in class we have a co-teacher because we don't speak Thai fluently, we're just barely learning the language. We have a co-teacher to translate whenever there's huge language barrier. Which, with my students, there usually is not.
With the younger students and the students that don't get as much instruction, there are more often language barriers where they will need the co-teacher to translate, or they're there to keep the students in line if they do happen to get out of hand. 'Cause, these are their actual regular teachers for their other subjects.
Angela: OK.
