Monday 22nd December 4TH WEEKEND

STAFF PHOTOS

I'm sitting at my computer at home, and for the first time in a month I have been able to read the language on the computer screen. In Thailand it was all guess work until I worked out where to point my arrow to log on!!!.

Thanks for your lovely message Kirstie. I really appreciate your words.

My time in Thailand will be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. It is hard for me to describe fully all my feelings. Many weeks before I left Australia I felt incredibly nervous. I knew I was wading out of my comfort zone into the unknown and wondered why on earth I was doing it. I later discovered that all the volunteers had similar feelings before they left home.

The first two weeks in my school were hard going. I was in a school which had never had volunteers before and an added complication that none of the teachers spoke any English. The teacher in my class only turned up a couple of times in the first two weeks, but I was determined that I would not give up. (I was given the option to move to another school- I turned the offer down.) How pleased I am that I did. The satisfaction I got at the end of my month was tenfold. "O" - nickname for the teacher in my class -started to turn up every day, and we began to work really well together. I could tell the children were learning. Oh what a feeling!!It was wonderful.

There was another side to my time here in Trang and that was the friends I made within the volunteer home base. It happens when lives are thrown together, share bedrooms and bathrooms, meal times and outings. It is the best feeling. I have met and made some truly remarkable people, not only the volunteers but those wonderful people who run "Home base". I cannot thank them enough for the effort and enthusiasm they put into their work.

Friday December 20th DAY 29

My final day in Trang, and what a day. Dale, Melissa and I went to offer robes to a Buddhist Monk. He took us to the house in which he lived. It was a simple room with very little in the way of furniture. I could see a toilet. I couldn't see a bedroom, so perhaps he slept in the same room. He blessed us and talked to us in Thai (Jack interpreted). We lit our incense sticks and he prayed. It was a fascinating half hour. We drove him back to the temple. A gathering of people saw us and invited us to take part in a ceremony of 2 novice Buddhist monks who were about to become full monks. Our timing was impeccable. These events don't happen often. We felt privileged, but it's the Thai way to be so generous and kind. Another amazing event.
Back at the ranch, it was time for Melissa and me to pack our bags. This done, "The Family" took the three of us out for lunch. (The other volunteers had all left for a weekend away.) Now it's 3pm. and sadly we leave in a couple of hours. Poor Dale will be without her 'buddies' as she is here for 7 weeks. She's been my best mate for a month, and it will be awful saying goodbye to her. I will see her again. She is going to England next year, so Glenda, (an ex volunteer who comes from Lincoln) Dale and I have promised to meet in York in June.
Still no photos, but I will add a few to the blog next week when I'm home.
This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have so many memories of the people who work here, of the staff at the school where I taught, and of the children. I am so pleased I made the effort and took the plunge and "Just Did It"

Thursday December 18th DAY 28

My final day at school. Yes Col, where did all the days in the middle disappear!! But, sadly, they have gone. I have lots of wonderful memories though. This morning on arrival at the school, there was another HUGE photo session. Never mind the children! We took photos of the staff with the children, photos without the children, photos in twos, fours, combinations, you name it, we took it. I think we stopped taking photos at 9.15am. We started at 8.45!!!!!. Some will appear on the blog site eventually. I have downloaded hundreds onto an account in Kodak Gallery if anyone is interested. Needless to say, I had a lovely day, and tonight the staff are taking me out to dinner. It's hard for me as I can give them nothing. It's the rule of CCS. No gifts etc. for obvious reasons.
Last night all the volunteers were taken to a local restaurant, as we are once each week. Dale Melissa and I are quite the locals now. There were 19 round the table last night.
I haven't looked to check whether there is Coopers Beer here, but you are so right Bruce. A Thai meal and a super Coopers. Yessss.

Wednesday 17th December DAY 27

We had a real fun day today at school. Lots of games, a little English, and more games. The kids thought it was great, the staff joined in and they thought it was great too. Now the staff are coming up to me, wanting to learn pronunciation of English words so they can continue to teach English after I have gone. Hopefully, the school will be offered more volunteers in the coming months to carry on where I have finished. Some of the staff have taken my home address and e-mail. It will be interesting to see if they get in touch again. I do love them all, they are just so warm and friendly towards me. It seems they are taking me out to dinner tomorrow, not lunch. It will be a sad parting of the ways.
We are off to Tescos tonight to buy the children lollies (sweets). We are not allowed to buy gifts, so I can do nothing for the teachers. They can eat some of the lollies!!!!!
I have more photos, but they will go on possibly when I get home. The CCS house is so full of volunteers, that it's hard to get computer time now.

Tuesday December 16th DAY 26

Two shots with some of the staff, and one with "Teacher O" and the children.

Happy Birthday John. Your Christmas tree will be up and sparkling. Hope you received my present.
What a lovely surprise to hear from you Mees and Rob. You will hear all about my trip first hand soon. I look forward to seeing you in a few days.
Good to hear all is well at 42, Isabella street. It is sad but true- your boys will have more books than my school over here. It's the way of the world. Nevertheless, the children over here are happy children, and they are getting an education. Many of them will climb the ladder and go to further education, I'm sure.
Andrew and Joelle-your last message was deleted, as was your Dad's the same day. What on earth did you write!!! Yes, I can barter with the best of them now. I probably still pay too much. Who knows!!! Anyway, good to hear from you both. I will see you in a few days if you are in Melbourne.

I had my new volunteer helper at school with me today, though she was just taking it all in. As long as she knows what I am trying to achieve, all will run smoothly. The staff want to take me out for lunch on Thursday. I am soooo touched. They are just so lovely. They want me to stay and be the permanent English teacher. There can be no bigger compliment. Only 2 days to go.

MONDAY 15TH DAY 25

Two more photos of the children. I have a few!!!!

Thanks again for your messages. It is really good to hear from you all.
Liverpool might have been disappointed to have a draw Dave, but Hull would have been very happy I'm sure!!!
A lovely amount of rain has fallen in Melbourne. I hope it's falling in the right places.
My day in school today was delightful. We are taking lots of photos of staff and students. It is going to be tough on Thursday when I walk out of the school grounds for the last time. Everyone has been so kind. The kids are great, and I feel I have achieved some of the things that I have tried to teach. It's all very basic, but they are so young- the best time to learn.
The new Volunteers are settling in. They will go out to their placements for the first time tomorrow. I am sure they are just as nervous as we were on our first day.
This afternoon we are all going into Trang, and then off for a meal at a local restaurant. We 3 girls are doing a repeat of our first week. It feels as if we are the locals.

THE 3RD WEEKEND

It has been another lovely weekend for me and Dale. Friday morning,"the Family", all 10 of us, went into Trang at 7.30am for Dinsan-Thai Yum Cha, which was 'interesting'. Enough said! Then we all climbed into the mini bus, and set off for Krabi. Next on the agenda was another visit to hot springs which were in the most delightful setting in woodland under a small waterfall. The water cascaded over us. It was beautiful. By the time that was over it was lunch time, so off we all went to Tesco. Tesco is the main supermarket over here, and the one in Krabi is Enormous. Following a very pleasant lunch, we were in the minibus again, and heading to the very famous Tiger Temple. Melissa, Jack and I climbed to the top of the rock face to see the statue of the Buddha. There were 1287 steps in all. I believe it took us about half an hour, and the temp. was in the high 30's. There was a lot of perspiration flowing by the time I reached the top! But it was worth it, the view was spectacular. A guy from Bristol took a photo of us on Melissa's camera to prove that we had made it. (I had left mine back at home base) It was 4pm when we arrived down to the bottom of the steps. Jack then drove Dale and I into Krabi and dropped us off at the hotel where we were staying for the weekend, and drove Melissa to the Long Boats for her to go over to Railay Beach to meet a friend for the weekend.
Again Dale and I had picked a lovely place to stay. We decided on a quiet weekend. On Saturday we took the local bus into Ao Nang, and went swimming and a little bit of sun baking, some lunch, another swim, then back to the hotel. We walked into town for dinner, then back for a good nights sleep in another very comfortable bed. Today we did little again. Walked into town, had a coffee, then at midday, caught the bus back to Trang. It's a two hour bus ride. Now we are waiting to meet 8 new volunteers who arrived on Saturday. They have been to the beach today, which is just what we did 3 weeks ago. How time flies!!!

Click on the link

Kerry I am inserting this blog from Australia so you can click on the link. If the link works then click on the line opposite the headphones.

Thursday December 11th DAY21

1) Two of the staff

2) Dinner time

3) The children at work

I can feel the progress I am making with these beautiful children now. It is making it all so worthwhile. The staff are getting to know me and are relaxing more each day I am there. It will be very sad to say goodbye to them now. Only 4 more teaching days left! Today the children wrote their first sentence in English- My name is -----. I try to make the learning fun for them with lots of games and songs, all spoken in English. They have taught me a lot of Thai from the songs they sing-it works both ways.
This afternoon we are visiting a Temple, which will mean putting on long pants, a blouse with sleeves and closed in shoes. They are very strict with their dress code. It would be disrespectful not to adhere, and actually they would not allow you to enter. This evening we are heading into town to a coffee house. The guy who owns it was on our Island hopping tour yesterday, and he invited us for coffee. We don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Tomorrow we head down to Krabi for the third weekend running. No decision has been made on what to do yet. I will write in my blog, hopefully on Sunday. The house will have filled up with more volunteers by then. I hope some of them have their own computers, or getting on this one will be tough, especially at the rate I type!!!

Wednesday December 10th DAY20

1) Melissa and Dale.

2) The group

3) The three of us

What a great day today. I haven't downloaded any photos yet, so I will add them some other time. Melissa, Dale and I went 'Island Hopping'. Our tour began at 8.30am when we were driven to the pier at Trang beach. There we caught a very old motor boat with 20 local Thai people. Our first stop was the Emerald Cave, so called we assume because the sea is emerald green in colour. We all climbed down into the sea and swam through about a 100 metres of cave, led by our tour guide who was holding a torch because it was so dark. The cave opened onto a secluded haven with a small beach and surrounded by the rock face, which was covered with bushes and trees. It was magic. We three "Farangs" were in the spotlight for photos with our new friends who could speak no English. Nevertheless, they made us very welcome. Once back in the boat we set off for the Islands, three in all. At each stop we snorkelled with colourful tropical fish through the coral reef which surrounded each of the Islands."Suai"-Beautiful. Food was provided-rice, of course, plus fish and chicken dishes. It was a memorable day. The Andaman Sea is so warm, its hard even for me to get out of the water.
Last night, 'Jack' took us to a local Fair. It was a cross between Malton Fair, York Market and trashy $2 stores anywhere in the world. We were the only white skinned people there, so we got lots of stares. We went because there was supposed to be some Thai dancing. There was, but it was one lone male. We tired of him after an hour, and left. A little disappointing, but interesting to see the local Thai population enjoying themselves.

Tuesday 9th December DAY 19

Today was lovely. The teacher was at school all day, and it took the pressure away from me. She could see what I was trying to achieve with the work sheets I had prepared, which meant she could explain to the children what they had to do far more quickly than I could do. Khem, the co-ordinator at CCS Trang, had a long talk with her this morning, and explained that the Volunteers must always have a teacher in the classroom with them. In actual fact, it's better when they are not there, as long as there are 2 Volunteers working together. The feed back from the teacher was good. She told Khem that the children had learnt a lot, and were now ahead of classes higher than them. I was really happy to hear that.
Tomorrow is a public holiday-Constitution Day. We three girls are going to take advantage of the day and go for a tour of some of the Islands around Trang. It is an organised trip, but it will all be in Thai, we think! Very interesting!!!
We have our final Thai language lesson later today. The best preparation I did for this trip was my Thai language lessons. It has meant that I am not completely lost in the classroom, and I can pick up snippets of conversation. It's still a difficult language- so much vocabulary to remember. The Thai's speak sooo quickly! I suppose we do when they hear us talking. Tit for Tat.
More tomorrow. Thanks for the comments. Hope Perth is going well for you Helen and Liam. The floor sounds good Col. New Rule---no outdoor shoes on new floor!!!!

Monday December 8th DAY 18

The photo is of some of the children eating their meal in the "Dining Room." The menu is the same every day-Rice and stir fry!!!

Week 3. It was a hard day at the office today. The regular teacher didn't appear until 10.45am, so they were all mine until then. Come to think of it, they were all mine after she arrived too. I have seen so little of her while I have been at the school, she is definitely on Thai time. The teachers are supposed to be there all the time to help with translation, but as she has no English, it probably doesn't make much difference whether she's there or not. I had a really good day with the children though, and I feel I am making some progress, but I was absolutely "done in" by the time I returned to CCS House. Dale and Melissa work together in another school, so they find it a little easier. They can bounce off each other as they go along. I found out today that the next lot of Volunteers ARE coming. Some of them arrive on Saturday, and there is one lady called Joyce, who has been allocated to my school just for a week. It will be lovely to have some help, and perhaps more ideas and input into helping these lovely children learn English in my final week.

The 2nd WEEKEND

PHOTOS

1)The Hotel Dog. Reminds me of another dog!!

2)The Floating Village.

3)Patricia tagged along with Dale and myself for the day.

4)The Elephant Ride

Here I am at the half way stage of my adventure. Time is beginning to gather speed, and today I booked a train ticket to get back to Bangkok for my return flight to Melbourne on December 21st. Melissa, the other Aussie, is travelling with me. I'm happy about that as it is an overnight train, although I was quite prepared to "go it alone"just for the experience. The journey takes 15 hours!!!
My second weekend was lovely.My room mate Dale and I travelled on public transport to Krabi, a two hour coach drive north of Trang. From there we caught the local bus to Ao Nang and found our Hotel. We struck lucky. For a very moderate price we had a hotel that looked out onto the sea. The room was lovely, and the beds were the most comfortable either of us had slept in since leaving home. We had two really good nights sleep. On the Saturday we took a day trip to see the Island where the James Bond Movie "The Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed. I've never seen the movie, but I will now, just to see if I recognise the view made famous in the movie. We went canoeing through mangroves, had lunch on a floating Village, went swimming under a waterfall, and finally did our elephant trek. That was the highlight for me. I think Dale was a bit worried we were going to tipple over. Then we fed the elephant bananas, and I know why they say "giving comforts to an elephant." He ate about 5kgs of banana, skin and all, in about 2 minutes. It was a great day, a great weekend.

Thursday December 4th DAY 14

The weather in Trang has changed. The monsoon has passed us by, and winter is here. The temperature is still a hot 32C!!!! At least it cools in the evenings now to a manageable 26C. School today was lovely. The kids are just adorable, and they are more comfortable with "Farang Teacher" now. It will be hard to leave them. Thursday is our last day at school for the week. It's rather nice to have a long weekend every weekend. Tomorrow Dale and I are going to Ao Nang, which is a two and a half hour bus ride away. It is a tourist spot, but we both want to do the "James Bond tour", so we will put up with the tourists for a weekend!
This afternoon we were taken to a weaving village-not really a village, more a shop with a small factory behind. It blew me away to see the intricate patterns they were weaving in silk by the old fashioned weaving machines. Two ladies were changing the colour of yarn half way through a piece of work. They had to tie every single strand by hand. They reckoned it would take them 4-5 days.
Trang, would you believe, has a "Tesco", but it it is not a food supermarket, more a clothes store. In it there is a blow up Santa Clause, just for the few Christians who live here. Only 2% of Thais are Christian. Other than that, you would not know it was Christmas. It will be a very short lived Christmas for me this year!!!
I have downloaded photos today onto the computer. I will put some onto the blog site on the corresponding days, so scroll down the blog to view.
Bruce,-It was lovely to hear from you. I wasn't sure if you would see my blog site. I am happy that you have caught up with it. Kirsty, great to get your message. Will probably talk to you at Christmas. Chris and David- always lovely to hear from you. How's Liverpool going David. It was on an English news that Arsenal beat Chelsea, but we haven't seen other results.

Wednesday December 3rd DAY 13

Thanks to Patty Atty, Bruce and family, Jan, and to Andrew and Joelle (Pomegranate and Rhubarb) for your messages. All lovely messages and I know my Blog sight is being read. It's really great to hear from you.
It was a sad morning this morning. Only 2 weeks ago, seven total strangers met each other, got to know one another, have worked and eaten together, and today, four of the group had to leave CCS and go home. There were tears all round. So we 3 remaining volunteers came back to a very quiet house after work today.
My day in school was good. The children have so little. There is no blackboard in the classroom, only an easel. My grandchildren have easels bigger than the one that is in their classroom. They have no grass to play outside- it is too wet. Mangy dogs and cats wander around the school grounds, and its dirty and unkempt. But the children are happy, the teachers are great, and I'm reaching the stage that I know I will be sad to leave them on December 18th. There is a man comes at lunch time each day selling ice creams to the children from his bicycle and cart. I couldn't believe it when I saw him put the ice cream in bread like a hot dog!! The kids love it.
Our Cultural trip today was to the Sago forest. The forest is unique to Trang. The Sago palms grow in fresh water from the hills, and Yes- it makes the most fantastic dessert, because they gave us some to taste. We also drank coconut juice straight from the coconut. Aroi aroi- delicious. We were very privileged that our visit to the Sago Forest coincided with The Governor's visit. It was very formal. We were introduced to him and sat listening to him, before we were whisked away for a tour of the forest. The photo above is just before the Governor arrived. Rumour has it that we may appear on Trang tele tonight!!!The cameras were there, and they certainly pointed them at "Farang"-us.
The political problems will soon be over, so I think my passage back to Australia will be safe. The people have to decide who will be their next Prime Minister. I hope they decide quickly.
Here endeth DAY 13

Tuesday December 2nd. DAY 12

This is my room mate, Dale. The group photo is "TheFamily".

The political situation in Bangkok has dominated the CCS house for many days now, and caused much stress. Four of our number were due to leave on Friday, but all flights out of Bangkok are cancelled. Any flights that leave from the army base are dealing with the backlog of tourists. Unless the main airports open, it will take weeks to clear these tourists. Consequently, the phones have been running hot as our volunteers try different ways to get home. They have at last succeeded. Tomorrow they will catch a bus to Singapore and from there they have all managed to book connecting flights home to their respective countries. Unfortunately the other side of this is that the next lot of volunteers has cancelled. Fifteen volunteers were due on December 13th. From tomorrow, there will only be three of us left, my Canadian room mate Dale, Melissa, another Australian, and me. The good news today is that the courts have ruled that the Prime Minister must stand down. We all hope this means that a replacement will be found quickly, and that life will get back to normal, that the airports will re-open, and by the time the 21st December comes, my flight home will fly without a hitch. I am staying calm for the moment.
The routine at school is settling into a clear pattern. Unfortunately, my sidekick, Brooke, is one of the 4 volunteers who will be leaving tomorrow. I will be on my own again. I write out a lesson plan each day, and make sure I have plenty of material to keep them occupied. There are lots of colouring in games, singing and dancing, along with the serious stuff. It is enormously satisfying when you realise they are actually learning some of the teaching. It is very demanding, and will be more so when I am on my own. The staff are fabulous. They have very little English, but they are happy to greet me each day, and are obviously pleased that I am there.
At last John. I thought you had forgotten all about you little sister. Remember it's your birthday soon! Helen and Liam- I hope you are enjoying your visit to Perth. You will love Krabi, it is right up your street. Melissa, the Australian volunteer, did an Intrepid tour in Chiang Mai. She described it as "Awesome". It sounded very similar to the one you did. Keep up the comments. They are really good to read. Thanks.