Monthly Archives: July 2011

Excerpts from Week One’s Notes . . . okay, maybe a bit long for being just “excerpts.” This entry is for people interested in reading about teaching . . . for those others, perhaps it’s time to take a coffee break : )

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My office/desk !
Monday, July 25, 2011 – First lesson of week one:           
Focus: Speaking (I’m not including that portion of the lesson in my glob entry) & Writing
Aim: for the Ss to write a letter to the teacher about themselves

The lesson was essentially the same for each class (Elementary and Intermediate) with adjustments made to make it appropriate to their skill level.
At the very beginning of the very first class, I gave them each a half-piece of white paper and showed them how I had folded it and written my name on the side. Earlier, I’d asked the manager of the school for colored markers (and he fortunately gave me a kit of colored pens). This worked out really well! Each student made a name card; I collected them with their writing book at the end of the class. (He also gave me new writing books for the students, which is also great; I can collect them at the end of class. This way, I know that they won’t lose them, and it will give a record of what they’ve done. Also, I keep the name card with them, which hopefully, will help me learn their names. Their names are very difficult!) . . . I also took a photo of each student holding their name card. This way I can look at the photo and hopefully learn their names with time! (It has been helpful. I made a word doc with 8 photos per page; I’ve printed them and made flashcards for myself with the “correct” pronunciation indicated on the back. No, I haven’t learned them ALL yet; there are 62 names to learn! But I’m “plugging away” as my Mom would  say.)
I started with drawing a mailbox on the WB (whiteboard). I then entered the classroom and mimed taking a letter out of the mailbox. I went on to tell them that this letter was to them and read the letter to them . . . they seemed to get excited about it. They got mail! This was a letter that I wrote to the students, a letter explaining how long I’ll be at FLO (eight weeks) and what we’ll be doing (focusing on speaking and writing).
(Later) I gave the E level students a copy of my letter with gaps to fill-in. I dictated the entire letter to the I level *Ss. It was appropriate for them. (I included this exercise for several reasons. 1. It gave them an example of a letter and what I wanted them to do. 2. It also gave me an opportunity to learn about their skill level.)

At the end of the class when I **played the “Busy everyday song” (track 86, Topic 22, Longman) for the I level Ss, it seemed kind of silly:            “Monday evening,

Ballet class

Tuesday evening,

Piano class

Wednesday evening,

Karate class

Thursday evening,

Swimming class

Friday evening,

Soccer practice

Saturday morning,

English class

Sunday morning,

No classes

I sleep late on Sunday!”

But then I got the idea for them to write: Monday evening _______ , Tuesday evening _____, plugging in whatever they do. It ended up being a very useful exercise. It helped me discover what they do in their “free-time.” They are always doing something!

Both classes were also able to write their own version of the chant/song though it was a little more difficult for the E **Ss, but still doable.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 – Second lesson of week one:
Aim: to learn to use the expression “I am going to” in conjunction with words of transportation and travel.

I was successful with both levels, however, the text I wrote was too difficult for the E level (I’ve since made the adjustment of writing separate stories/letters/whatever for the two different classes). When I realized it, I made adjustments on-the-spot, and I think it worked out fine. I broke the text down into sections and mimed, drew pictures, etc. to elicit the meaning. I think I was successful in conveying the meaning. I also did CCQs which seemed to really work. I had planned already on not doing the detailed reading section and true/false questions for the E level.

The Clarification/MFP section worked really well with the Elementary level students. It did was it was supposed to. It worked also for the Intermediate, though I didn’t need to elicit the meaning like I did for the Elementary Ss.

With both groups I used the CCQs, “Is this now?” No. I made a time-line which seemed to clearly show them that this is for a future action.

I printed pages 21 and 22 from Longman about Going Places. I taked this up on the wall; I didn’t really use it in the lesson since I only had one copy, but I did write out the phonemic spelling for the words included in their list. I made this into a game with 3 teams with the I Ss. Some of them seemed very familiar with phonemic spelling whereas others didn’t. I think it was a success in terms of giving them a fun opportunity to figure out what they meant.

Essentially the difference between the two classes was that the I lesson was a Receptive skills lesson plan with the students hearing and then reading the text first for gist, then scanning for specific information, and then a reading for detail for the true/false questions.

Whereas for the E Ss, it was more of a Text-based lesson plan where I created on the spot a controlled practice (I wrote sentences on the board with gaps that they were to fill-in) and a freer practice (the 2 chains of students asking each other what they were going to do).

For the lead-in (at the start of the class), I walked out of the room and came back in wearing a backpack. “I am going to take a trip. I want to travel. How can I travel?” I said. Then I elicited different forms of travel and wrote them on the board around the brainstorm sunshine circle. It was interesting how both levels knew a lot of words (the I, however, did know more, such as donkey.) But even though both groups knew this basic vocabulary, the E level did not know how to use it. This was part of why I hadn’t realized the great disparity in their comprehension. The E group simply needs to keep learning how to build sentences and use different tenses, etc. The I level seems to have the basics which they need to practice and refine. The pre-intermediate students have difficulty keeping up with the Intermediates, but they are closer in skill level to the I, however, than the E level students.
Thoughts on Thursday, July 28th, 2011
I had planned on doing a lesson using beach words and “What are you going to do?” “What can people do at the beach?” “What do you wear at the beach?” “Who do you see at the beach?” And then after asking them to list the answers to these (revealing one at a time) in pairs, then on the board, then “teaching” anything they don’t understand . . . I would give divide them into 5 groups of 5 or 6. Each student would pick a card would be either: I am a tourist, I am a lifeguard, I am  . . . Then they would speak with each other using these expressions.

But . . . as I was thinking about it last night in bed, I was realizing how disjointed their learning seems to be. They’ve memorized so many words, some expressions (I think). But they haven’t learned any variations. Also, when they learn an expression, statement, question, etc., it’s just with one pronoun (usually “I”), such as “What do you like to eat?” “I like to eat . . .” So if you were to ask them, “What does she like to eat?” they’re thrown for a loop.

I’ve decided that I’m going to do a different lesson today. I’m going to teach a lesson that makes sure they’re clear about the difference between the present simple and the present continuous. I want to be sure that they know how to use these two tenses before they start their “storybook” tomorrow. (The format for this lesson came from the last lesson I did at CELTA btw.)

Thursday, July 28th’s lesson with the Intermediate and pre-Intermediate students went very well. I realize now as I just glanced at what I wrote earlier, that I did kindof do what I intended (got them to talk about what goes on at the beach). I just prefaced it with an explanation of the use of present continuous (action in progress) with present simple (a habit, an ongoing behavior) in the CELTA style.

I opened by sitting on a chair flipping through a newspaper miming sipping coffee. I then read what I’d written about the teacher not being there . . . using present simple and present continuous.

Narrator: (E, I wrote a different version for I)

Where’s the teacher? The teacher always comes to class by foot at 5:45 p.m. every day. But today, the teacher’s not here? Where’s the teacher?
Teacher at the Café: 

I’m the teacher. Usually, I go to class at 5:45 p.m. every day. But today, I’m not at school. Where am I? I’m in a café. What am I doing? I’m drinking coffee. I’m sitting at a table drinking coffee. I’m also reading a newspaper.

I then did the CELTA thing of having a marker sentence for each tense. CCQs to make sure they understood. Drilled, (MFP), etc. It went well.

I then proceeded to do the controlled and freer practices. What the heck does that mean? The controlled practice were exercises I prepared where the Ss filled in the gaps. They did them individually at first, then checked their answers with their partner, and then there was wholeclass feedback with them writing the answers on the board.

For the freer practice, I divided them into 6-groups and handed out the little slips of paper I’d made saying: 1. a lifeguard, 2. a boat captain, 3. an ice cream seller 4. a tourist, 5. a fisherman (I realize that this is sexist, but I  went for simplicity here), 6. a kid playing.

I then proceeded to elicit the meaning for each one of these by asking CCQs and by drawing on the board. Then I asked how the different people would answer, “What do you do?” and “What are you doing?” going through them one-by-one. This was all very playful, yet I think they were understanding and learning.

Next came speaking in their group taking on one of these identities: asking each other questions, and using present continuous and present simple. There was lively discussion though I heard too much Cambodia. Then it just seemed right to ask them to please try and speak only English; that’s what I’m here for, I explained, to help you learn how to speak better English; you can speak Cambodia already. They really seemed to pay attention to this and promised very seriously (for 12-20 year olds : ) to try and speak only English.

The class ended with three different students coming up and writing a dialogue that they’d said within their group. It was a good example of being more “real” and playful with their language. Since they’d written a short dialogue, I asked the corresponding students to come up and read it; they did. It was good because one of the students is a shy girl who rarely wants to speak, but she did in this setting! That made me very happy to see (and hear).

Thursday, July 28th’s lesson with the Elementary students went very well! I anticipated the differences between the two classes much better, and the adjustments I’d planned worked. The only real difference was that when they were speaking in groups, I wrote some suggestions of what to ask on the board rather than simply, “What do you do?”, “What are you doing?”. For example, I suggested, “What color is your boat?”, “How big is your boat?”, “Is your ice cream good?”, etc. I think I got the point across that they can ask all kinds of questions. It was fun to see the understanding appear on their face after they had been scrunching up their faces with “Huh???”

Also, some of the students in the elementary level class had more difficulty understanding the difference between when to use present simple (a habit, such as I am a boat captain; I drive a boat every day) and present continuous (an action in progress, I am driving a boat now). I did much more repetition and asked more CCQs with the the elementary level class to ensure their understanding.

Most stories are told in the simple past tense, but I managed to find about 13-storybooks in the library that are told in the present tense. I’ll use those as models for the elementary level students. Now I need to write a sample story for each class. Today’s lesson will be task-based. I will be the native speaker talking when I read the example story, which is the model for their final activity.  (It ended up that I only did one lesson on Friday (E) due to all of the festivities. This was very fortuitous because it helped me realize that I needed to break that lesson down into even smaller bite-sized pieces. I’m going to repeat the lesson today with the E Ss and do it for the first time with the I Ss; I expect it to go much better.)

Administering the mostly oral test on Thursday, July 28th (with the younger E level Ss, this isn’t a class that I was technically teaching but rather one that I was assisting) it became incredibly apparent that the Ss have simply memorized sentences without really understanding the meaning. One example is when I asked the students (one-on-one) “What’s this?” while holding a pencil, many replied, “That’s my pencil.” “Yours?” I asked. They had no idea what I meant. (This supports my thoughts about creating situations for them where things are said in different ways . . . that’s one reason I’m on the search for fun games. This past Saturday in Phnom Penh I found a “Harry Potter” version of a Junior Monopoly game. That’s a start . . . !)

-out

sj

This entry is dedicated to precious Fido who left his bodily form 7-years ago on this very day, August 1, 2004.

Week one at FLO in visual form . . .

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Find Kamehameha.
A beautiful room, but just a little too isolated, so I moved to the Guest House.
Emily from New Jersey yucking it up with the kids.
Watching Tony’s surprise birthday video pour moi. Why is this shot yellow? Because this teacher was thinking about leading the class, not taking a shot! : )
One morning en route to class after a rain. The building? A new dance hall under-construction, almost completed.
Can you see who else came to class? And why is this blue? Ditto.
Friday, “music” day for this class. Everyone wants to be a part of it. : )
Emily with Kate from Atlanta.
Sneaking a peek.
Cameraman Rick
Looking good! Getting ready for the visiting delegates.
Having fun yet?
Peace!
Pamela Young with a star student. Who is Pamela, or Pammie, as Rick calls her? She’s a celebrity from Hawaii and the producer of “Mixed Plate,” Hawaii’s longest running news feature series and winner of 9 Emmy awards.
Watching for the arriving delegates.
Here they are! I spoke to the tall lady; she’s very nice and is from Egypt.
Spy-cam on the two gal-pal-volunteers having some private fun.
One of my students playing with another looking to the right.
The beautiful lass on the left is in my Elementary level class.
They’d been practicing all week!
The movements are very graceful and subtle.
This is how it’s done . . .
The costumes are beautiful!
The boys in the band. Many are in my Intermediate level class.
This is where some of the on-property workers live. A very peaceful lifestyle.
Some of the members of Worldwide Delegations are very, very tall! The woman in red is from Japan and in charge of this particular chapter of the organization. They are one of the two main sponors of FLO.
Welcome! In the past, this particular dance was performed for royalty; its message is to wish the honored guests much prosperity and happiness.
The girls were singing along. Several are in my class.
They did such a good job! Their teachers were very, very proud of them.  Traditional Khmer dance is often referred to as “Apsasa Dance” after one of the most popular clasical dance pieces. FLO is doing its part to ensure that this part of Cambodia’s culture is not lost.
Worldmate Delegations gave each of the children their own bag.
They kids were very appreciative and expressed it to the delegation.
Peace !
See our bags?
Now they’re in formation to meet Rob Hail, founder of eGlobal.
This capable drummer has been teaching two classes of younger students since they’re on “official” school break; he and I are now working together with the students.
Here comes Rob!
The students take this very seriously.
The little boy was found abandoned a year ago; I was told that they weren’t sure if he’d make it. He has! He’s 5-years old.
I’ve been wearing these rubber slippers because when it RAINS, the mud is very deep and my other shoes were getting trashed. My slippers follow their name too closely; these, which I found in my new room, are more independent minded and hold their own better. Why the pix? One of the staff members walked off in them by mistake. When I came out of the office and asked, “Where are my shoes?” everyone laughed. I think the poor guy was a little embarrassed. lol No worries, mate. Easy mistake to make! They thought they looked funny on my feet because they are so big.
And then it came time to lower the flag. This was in the late afternoon before my 5:45 p.m. class.

The kids at FLO are beautiful! Or, week one at FLO

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Dear Friends,

The first school week at FLO has just passed. Wow, what an experience it’s been already. I’ve been keeping notes of my observations while teaching–things that have worked, things that haven’t worked, how I’ve adapted when they didn’t, what the differences are between the two classes I teach *on my own (1. Elementary level and 2. Pre-Intermediate & Intermediate levels combined), etc. When I sat down on my bed last night to review what I’d written and add the last bit from yesterday’s classes, it felt as if it’d been a month already since my first entries! Yes, I’m so glad I’m keeping that log because I can see how I would forget so many details otherwise.
Where to start in telling you about FLO?
Well, let’s start with FLO itself.
This is definitely where I’m “meant” to be. Why do I say that? Well, the Hawaii connection for one. It was so very welcoming to arrive at the canteen for my first dinner last Sunday night and see an “Aloha” sign on the wall. In the gift shop area where I stayed the first 2-nights, I saw another sign of Hawaii, King Kamehameha on the Honolulu Rotary Club’s sign. In the library, there are stacks and stacks of books about Hawaii. When opening one of many boxes of things donated to FLO searching for games for the students, I read “donated by Tutu Betty”**. I was opening a box that had come from Hawaii. How many times have I donated things to organizations (many)? And now, here I was on the receiving end. I can tell you as a person looking for any and every resource available for helping these students, I was very appreciative!
Then, on Wednesday evening, a tall, lanky bloke from Australia came sauntering up to the canteen at meal-time. “Is there where we eat, mate?” he asked. Yes, I replied and then asked. Aussie? “G’day mate!” he said simply. (i.e. Yes. : )
Are you here to volunteer teach? “Nope, I’m the cameraman for a crew from Hawaii.”
Yes, from Hawaii.
“Pamela Young’s arriving tomorrow to do a story about FLO.”
Well, whadayouknow?
“I moved back to Australia in February, but my wife and I lived in Hawaii for 15-years. I was a cameraman at KGMB.”
Any chance you knew cameraman Bill?
“Well, of course, mate. I taped his wife when she was an anchor on TV.” (Bill is someone my husband and I’ve worked with many times. Go figure.)
In April 2010, I already had an inkling that I was going to take a sabbatical of sorts. Doing what? I had no idea. Going where? I had no idea. But that I wanted to go, I knew. So one Friday afternoon, ***Rocket Girl and I hiked out to the end of Awa‘awapuhi Trail on Kaua‘i. We’d completed our work for the week (yes, we, dogs play very important roles in getting work done!~) and decided to head up to Koke‘e. After we hiked down the trail to the end where it overlooks Na Pali coast, we sat quietly, taking in the breathtaking views. This would be a good time to meditate, I thought, so I did. I’d just recently checked out my friend Glenn’s meditation called “Basic Activation of the Divine Light Meditation” (see the glob link on the right under the susansbackwardsglob.com link) and had put it on my iPod. It’s an about 10-minute guided meditation, which just clicked with me. At the end, I calmly sat there and just enjoyed feeling peaceful and quiet. And then what seemed the most far out idea at the time just came to me, “Text message all the Divine Souls on the planet that you connect with, who have similar dreams as you.” And I did. Not sure what the message contained; I just trusted that our souls knew what was important. I even mentioned this in an entry in susansbackwardsglob.com in August 2010. Here’s an excerpt:
And I thought of the people in my life who live in Light,
and I thought of the people I don’t yet know who received my text message back in April.
and I thought of how I’m going to meet them and others as one thing leads to another,
one heart leads to another.
Doors will be opened.
Introductions will be made.
And I will find my way around this planet
on the voyage
which will open up
to me.
So here I am at FLO where there’s this wonderful Hawaii connection. And then comes along a cameraman who lived in Hawaii for 15-years (my husband and I have had a video production company on Kaua‘i since 1989; we started in Waikiki in 1986). And I think of the people I’ve met who’ve helped guide me in this direction. And I think of how I’ve taken the time to be still and listen . . . when “deciding” where to go next.
Okay, so back to the main point: FLO.
Rob Hail of Honolulu who’s done incredible work creating eGlobal Family, http://www.eglobalfamily.org/, arrived yesterday. It seems that each year volunteers from Hawaii come to take the children on different excursions. This year it’s a 3-day trip to the beach visiting one waterfall en route and another on the return (Yes, I’m lucky enough to get to go too! There will be 220 children; I think they’ll be happy to have two extra arms and ears.). It just so happened that Rob arrived yesterday. I asked him, “Why FLO?” (for his e-Foster Parent program). He proceeded to tell me how in 2000 he visited many different organizations in SE Asia and found FLO to be a very well organized and focused school (and home) for children.
The founder, Ms. Nuon Phaly, is a most extraordinary woman. On FLO’s site she wrote, “I am being a Cambodian (Khmer National) who loves this country, people, culture and civilization. I wanted to contribute to the recovery and development of the people’s health and knowledge, especially the vulnerable women and their children; I took an initiative to establish a center for helping them out.”
Not only is there a wonderful Hawaii connection at FLO, but FLO itself is a most caring, safe and productive place for children to live and learn. Their education program shows great depth in its variety (Largely due to volunteers who come and donate their time and knowledge to the children; sound interesting to you? Consider volunteering!).
So, in a nutshell, I feel very fortunate to be volunteering at FLO. Having 8-weeks here to teach, I feel that I have enough time to assist the students’ learning and actually make a difference in their lives. Yes, I realize that 2-months is a very short time in the scheme of things, but it is my hope that by using CELTA’s methodology, I will be able to give them some learning skills which will aid them as they continue their studies.
“But what the heck happened this week, Susan Jane????”
A lot.
“Like what?”
Well, how about I show you in pictures?
Coming soon at this very same bat channel . . .
-out,
sj

Made it to the movies! (a l o n g one . . . : )

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Hi Everyone,

It’s Friday evening in Chiang Mai, and I made it to the movies! (the 2011 European Union Film Festival) There’s an Italian one (“The Last Pulcinella”) playing as I type, but I figured watching two movies was enough!

What’d I see? “Above the Street, Below the Water” (2009); this Danish film was a bittersweet tail of changing relationships. I’d recommend it . . . but not for kids. Next came a German movie, “Run if you Can” (2009) about an unusual threesome. Also good. Also not for kids really.

How did I get there? With my orange scooter that I rented for 150 baht from a place across the street from the hotel (where I could have rented one for 250 and had it delivered to me; I figured I could handle the walk across the street and save 100 baht! : )

How much did the movies cost? Nada! They were free. And the soda and popcorn was a whopping 55 baht. Some things in Thailand and really, really cool.

“Okay, what else have you been doing?” You ask.

Well, I went on a three-day, two-night trek up into the mountains north of CM.

But before I tell you about that, I gotta (yes, gotta : ) tell you that some more magic happened Monday night after I posted my last glob entry. How the way back to my hotel I ran into one of my new friends! I’d met this nice lady and her son and girlfriend during the cooking class. We’d ridden the same vehicle to the place and hung out with each other all day. Then, when it came time to leave, they threw me (not literally, but almost) into another bus since I was a lone duck. I got to quickly say goodbye to this nice British lady, but not the other two. And here it was, around 10 p.m. and I was on my way back to the pad to eat SJ-made phad thai and mango sticky rice when I ran into her! She told me how her son had been so disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to say goodbye . . . I’ll just to to the hotel, I said. And I did. While she went searching for a place to change their plane seating, I found their inexpensive-but-very-nice-350-baht-a-night hotel. Introduced myself to the proprietor who was playing cards with a group of fun-loving women, convinced them that I had indeed just seen the mother . . . and was not a mass murdered, and gained entry into the building. Up one flight and there they were enjoying their specially made food with a Chang. : ) We had a fun visit (with the mom too who returned quickly unsuccessful with her mission) until my eyes were drooping so heavily and my stomach was growling incessantly . . . but, I think my noodles tasted so much better having been tempered with a helping of new friendship. So it goes . . .

Okay, the trek. “What was it like?”

Well, it was fun; it was muddy; it was lazy; it was goofy; it was a great success.

It’s so amazing how you can throw 12 complete strangers together in the back of a truck (they have a special name for it that I’m too lazy to look up, excusez moi, s’il vous plait), stir a little, add some heat, and cook up a tasty stew of new friendships. By the end of three days, we were practically kissing cousins.

“What’d we do?”

We walked. Through rice fields (with water is “regular” rice, without is sticky rice, so they say . . ), down muddy paths, up paved roads, through Karen villages, and in a bamboo forest . . . and we hung out–till noon the second day. We played cards, smoked bad cigarettes (well, some of us watched, but it was fun), learned goofy Karen jokes, listened to locals play some intruments, tried the instruments ourselves (one was a 7-string somethingorother), ate rice, lots of rice, and noodles, and well, drank Chang beer . . . oh, and we swam in two different swimming holes with waterfalls (the water was mostly clear). At the first one, the water was quite strong and two of the darling Spaniards almost got washed away (for real), but our 25-year old Karen guide moved the quickest he ever did during the 3-days and “caught” them and then got them to safety. His name? “Call me potato,” he told us the first day. And we did. I lost track of how many times the lovely Spanish ladies yelled, “Potato! Potato! There’s a spider! Potato!”

: ) Yeah, it made us all smile too.

“And the rest of the 12?” you ask.

A family of five Danes–a really beautiful family, two teenage boys and a fiesty 11-year old girl. She’s strong! She often lead us as we walked. A pair of three who met while backpacking. One is a French former model (male). And two live in Arizona, though they met in Burma. Yep, makes sense in that goofy happenstance way that traveling and meeting people just somehow works out so perfectly.

5 Spaniards, 5 Danes, 1 French man, 2 women from Arizona (an American young lady who’d been studying in Singapore for a year and will be returning “home” soon and a Taiwanese lady who calls AZ home–where she teaches Art, “K through 8,” she explained), and moi, the smiling, laughing lady from Kauai . . .

And on the trek, we also rode elephants. I enjoyed it overall, but my heart didn’t feel like they were treated well. Our little guy was so hungry; he kept stopping to eat leaves, branches, whatever he could grab. We gave him two bags worth of bananas and sugar cane . . . but something just didn’t feel completely right.

And we rode these long bamboo poles (about 7 or 8, I think) that were temporarily strapped together with strips of black tire. There were four of us to a raft. The group I was with (the 3 backpackers) was fairly tame; we sat, laughed, got wet bumps, but generally, played it cool. The three Spaniards and eldest Danish boy (who speaks very good German AND English btw) had a rip-roaring time! They rolled the raft several time, got dunked even more, and even took the bamboo poles and steered their way down. The guide looked a bit terrified at the end (for real! his eyes were BIG when they came in ! lol ; )

It was definitely a trek machine . . . a very well organized and oiled machine cranking out one batch of 12-tourist-trekkers after another. Some mastermind has organized the movement of this chain of people from one Karen hut and one Karen “7-11” to another. And they all seemed to be having a good time. And the natives? Well, I think they’re definitely making use of their resources (the terrain and themselves). We often hung out with the small family at the two places where we stayed overnight (we 12 slept in the same hut; there were groupings of 3 mats under the corresponding mosquito nets. The rustic toilets had the kind of basin that you stand on and squat . . . there were large containers of water from which we’d scoop water to pour into the tiny bowl . . . you get the picture).

Tomorrow I head out for BKK where I’ll do heaps of laundry and get myself organized for the next 8-week portion of this saga (Cambodia where I’ll volunteer teach).

The rest of the evening promises some fun scooter riding and some food . . . maybe a heap of tasty noodles. Today I found the wat on the hill 16 km to the northeast of town, along with some sleeping dogs, waterfalls, and pretty scenery.

I’ve enjoyed this part of Thailand; yes, it’s been my favorite so far . . . but I do still remember fondly that trip along the River Kwai . . . and the fun boat ride in BKK, and, and, and . . .

Didn’t read through this, so please excuse me for my missssspellings and Freudian slips.

Do hope you’re all well and enjoying yourselves wherever you are–having a good meal, watching a good movie, reading a good book, or just hanging out with friends and family.

Aloha and a bientot,

sj

OMG! There’s an European Union Film Festival that happens to coincide with my stay in Chiang Mai !!!!!

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Hi Everyone,

Yes, I just “by chance” passed by a place with a pamphlet with the “happenings” for art in the area, picked it up thinking I’d give it a look-see. Found a *cool/hip hotel/restaurant/bar/whatever and decided to set a spell and drink in the day . . . when I opened this flyer and discovered the following ! :

http://www.facebook.com/EUinThailand?sk=app_203351739677351

It looks like I’ll be able to see several films on Friday the 22nd of July, the night before I leave Chiang Mai for BKK (and the final prep, i.e. laundering, getting ready for the Cambodia and teaching leg of this trip.).

How cool is that???? I’m so jazzed. Where is it? On B-1 on the map. That’s all I know. But this determined girl will figure out a way to convey that information to the tuk-tuk or taxi driver . . . or, gasp!, I may have a scooter then . . . but how to return it before I fly out the following day? Oh, those are details to work out a lifetime away from now. Something will come to me, inspiration will find me, or, I’ll just “figure it out.” lol I love how I’m learning to just be quiet for a moment, listen, and the answer comes; it always does : ). Oh, that relates to everything, doesn’t it?

Kay den, that’s it. Just wanted to share the “good news.” That’s how it is, isn’t it? When something good happens, we want to share it. Why? Because we’re excited, happy, just plain jazzed that Wow! something else good is happening!!!

And in that vein, I hope that you too have good news to share. Maybe it’s just the wonderfully simple satisfaction that comes from a tasty meal. Or a store clerk who looks at you and smiles. Or the simple joy of knowing that you’re alive, and that that’s the u l t i m a t e gift, to be alive. (Would love to hear your good news: )

I’ve written a few of you who took the time to write such nice and encouraging things in response to my last glob entry . . . the main gist is that I am so very, very thankful to be on this adventure. And by that I mean, the ultimate adventure, which is l i f e. This trip to SE Asia is but a metaphor for the BIG thing, the real thing, the (excuse me for my repetition), the ultimate thing. To be in a human body living on this earth, meeting each and every one of you precious souls . . . ah, it doesn’t get better than that, does it?

Please know that I sincerely am so very thankful to know you, whether it be for a blink-of-the-eye, a long afternoon, or for a lifetime. Each and every one of you is so very important to me, and I don’t say (okay, type : ) that lightly. I really, really mean it.

And oh, the cooking school deal was a blast. I’ve got **”Susan-Jane-made” Phad Thai and mango sticky rice waiting for me back at my pad. We had sooooo much to eat that nearly all of us got “to-go” (plastic bags with a rubber band, such a practical way to pack leftovers!) baggies for din-din.

And with that, I’m signing off . . . and oh, get this, the hotel has on channel 48 a French TV station !!!! Last night I stayed up late watching a funny French film with English sub-titles. How cool is that!!! Yes, gifts keeps falling to me from everywhere I look. And yes, I don’t take any of them for granted. I am very, very thankful.

Love, love, and more love to you all,

sj

* http://www.morooms.com/

**got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? maybe that’s what I’ll do “next,” make Susan-Jane-made whatchamacallits!

Just arrived in Chiang Mai and love it already!

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Hi Everyone,

I arrived today, made my way to the hotel (which I’d found online using latestays.com), and right off the bat liked it that they had a flat rate to the hotel–no mystery with the taxi driver taking the long route (like in BKK) to make more baht. I even paid the women at the airport who were running the show. : ) Okay, all my women friends are smiling; I can feel it.

And as soon as I got squared away at the hotel, i.e. unpacked, got the safety box reset for my only little personal code, spocked (i.e. “checked”) out the pool (nothing to write home about in too great of detail, but it is wet . . . and there IS one), I set out to explore the city. After walking only a few yards, I saw a sign for a Thai Farm cooking school endorsed by the Lonely Planet. “What’s this?” I thought, so I took the turn and before you can say piggely wiggely, I’d booked the last spot with the group tomorrow (through Nicole, a lovely woman originally from Belgium with two lovely Thai/European daughters by her side).

You can check it out at: http://www.thaifarmcooking.com/. Looks really fun! And . . . maybe I’ll learn something!

Then, I continued on my way and found wat (temple) after wat. There are m a n y! I think Friday (my last day here) will be the day to rent either a scooter or bicycle and explore the area ( and many wats) on wheels.

Okay, I hadn’t been here long . . . just a matter of hours, really, when I realized that I prefer this city to Bangkok. Maybe it doesn’t have the groovy transportation that BKK has (the BTS and MRT), but it just feels better. Literally, it feels better against my skin. And when I realized that I really needed to buy another chip thing for my camera, I found that the people are really nice and helpful. No, 7-11 didn’t have them like one lady thought, but they told me where to go: “Na ba sa.” What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine. But heading of in the direction that the clerk at 7-11 pointed, I held those words in my head, “Na ba sah.” And then, when I asked a smiling young guy, “Na ba sa?,” he pointed in the same direction and said, “That way, then right.” And how many minutes? He thought long and hard . . . “Maybe five?” And on I continued, for about 10, it felt like, which was probably 2. : )  Then I asked another smiling Thai man who said in perfect English, “The night market is two blocks down. Take a right in two blocks. But why do you want to go there? Today you go to the walking street market.” Because I need a da kine for my camera. “Okay, okay,” he said.

And as I continued on, I heard the beautiful sound of monks chanting. Glancing towards the sound, I discovered that there was yet another wat. And this one was the surrounded by the most enchanting light. Yes, of course I changed my route for the sake of stopping and listening. It was beautiful, calming, a refreshing sound in this second largest city of Thailand. And then, the most adorable young monk turned, caught my eye, and we exchanged the simplest of smiles. “Yes,” I thought to myself, “It feels better here.”

After a while, I continued on my way to find a Kodak store, and get a memory card for my camera. Ah, just what I wanted, I thought, as I passed a bead shop with strings of hanging rope on the side. Yes, my turquoise/citrine bracelet broke again! This time it was on the boat yesterday after returning from the “famous” beach from the movie The Beach. But in the way that told me that these stones are still to stay in my life, they fell right below where I sat on the bow of the boat, landing on one of two black backpacks belonging to the English people onboard. That is, they all landed there except one citrine. Seems one of the five citrines needed to take a walk-about.

“What the heck are you talking about Susan Jane?”

Well, believe it or not, I saw this bracelet during a meditation while I was in Idaho earlier this year. I told my husband, “I think I need to go to a consignment store and find this bracelet which I saw in meditation.” And on April fool’s day (I kid you not! lol), we did go to a really cool consignment shot in Sun Valley, Idaho (which just happened to be the day of their fun sixth anniversary party complete with free pupus and pleasant jazz, original art by an incredible young artist named  . . . oh, I hope I’ve got this right, Ashley Dreyfus . . . ) where I looked at their jewelry section and saw it! It’s the one you saw in an earlier post. The one on my wrist outside the jewelry shop which repaired it.

So  . . . to finally get to the point, I bought some wire/string/something or other for 50 baht just down from the store with the camera chip. I think I may just tie it around my neck rather than have it repaired yet again.

Oh, and to back up, earlier while wandering around (and at this most wonderful Sunday market that the Thai man told me about and that I’d already been to), I’d decided to have a snack. As I sat on a child-sized chair at a comparably sized table and ate a most delicious vegetarian noodle something or other (covered in sweet and sour sauce with crunchy garlic to boot!), I heard this lady and her son speaking something that sounded like German. Meanwhile, the little blonde, blue-eyed kid of about five years old kept turning around and s t a r i n g at me! (I just smiled back : ). We three just happened to get up about the same time, so I struck up a conversation, “Is that German I’m hearing?” (said in German, of course)

“Yes, but we come from Austria so we have a heavy accent,” she said with a smile. And with that we struck up a fun conversation, visited a bit, and then parted ways.

After running into her three or four more times in the matter of minutes! (and this is a BIG market), I realized that I needed to give her my card. Who the heck knows, we might just meet up again in Austria . . . or on Kauai. Anything’s possible.

And . . . in that same way, I struck up a conversation with an Aussie family as I was down by the night market, “You do know about the special Sunday market, don’t you?”

They didn’t. And as we five walked in the same direction towards this most incredible market, we discovered that we had something in common: a love of Kauai. This beautiful family from Melbourne has been to Kauai twice and will most certainly go back again someday. Yep, time to pull out another card!

Warning Tony, we might just have the w o r l d show up on our doorstep some day! : ) But hopefully, not all at once . . .  : )

Okay, the point of this entire missive/entry/glob post (plug in the word(s) of your choice), is that I’ve safely landed in Chiang Mai and have a good feeling about the place. Anyone thinking of taking the CELTA course in Thailand, you might want to check out the school(s) here. Maybe you too would like the feel of the place better. : )

And I thought I was going to tell you about the Krabi area . . . that’ll have to come at a later date. Suffice it to say that some people find it very beautiful. I found it very interesting. I really enjoyed the people I met and loved it when a group of young German kids asked, “Are you German?” No, I’m American, I replied to their befuddled faces. Hmm, next time I might just answer in the affirmative and see how long I can get away with it. : )

I also got many chances to speak French. Pretty cool, really, this mix of people from all over the world who converge at these southern Thailand destinations. One young man from China was intrigued with how I was able to dive “deep” while snorkeling. Not sure if he understood my explanation, but a part of me gets a chuckle (and pleasure) at the image of him trying; I hope he succeeds!

I’ve borrowed another photo from online. This one’s of the market that’s currently taking place about 18-feet away from where I sit.

Oops, it wouldn’t let me add it . . . go here if you’re interested: www.flickr.com/photos/fortes/89943055. Maybe it’ll work . . . maybe it won’t. If not, just google the Sunday market in Chaing Mai, and I bet a zillion of photos will  come up.

Okay den, signing off. Gotta get to bed at a decent hour so that I’ll be ready to join the cooking lesson train. Now that’s a ride, I don’t plan to miss!

Love to you all; sending wishes of peace and contentment wherever you may be and with whomever you may be.

In the light,

Susan Jane

Quick poost from thee BKK aeroport!

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Hi Everyone!

In the  BKK airport usin their groovy free-but-funky-da-kinne computer kiosks.

All’s well. Had a  graand timme in thee Krabi areea; heading now north to Chiang Mai . . . taking a 3-day, 2-night treek starting Tuesday . . .. to Karen and Hmong villages . . .. hikinng . . . sleepinng on the grouund .  .. riding elephants . . .. swimminng at the  base of waterfallss . . .  and then back to the  hoteel forr a HOT shower!

Life isgood.

No, I’m not drunk, Dan, just usinng a funky free-dakine.

Got lots of shots yeesterrday at thee faamouns beach froom  thee movie THE BEAACH.

Heard a German yell, “Ganz allein im Paradise!”
Had to laugh as he said he was alone in paraadise, and I had to practiccaally elbow my way to the beach. LOL :  )

kay den, time to look for my fliight . . . ALOHA from bkk . . . .

sj

p.s.lots of snakeshotstoo . . .. theree was a tiny snake on the beach! . . . with the trash :  (

p.s.s. I thiink this iss where the Dutch laanguage really  came from . . .. the futuree and funky freee airport kiosks!!!

OMG! I had so much fun today!

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Today, for the first time in my life, I rented a scooter. Yes, for the first time in my life. I’ve ridden on the back many, many times, but never had I been on one alone as the solo driver. Today, I broke that spell!

I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous at first; so I took it slow and easy. And then, I surprised myself by how quickly I took to it. It was F U N!!!

The main reason I rented it (for a whopping 150BHT for 24-hours, remember, $1=30BHT about, I spent 160 and 70 BHT on gas . . . ) was to go see this wat, or temple. It’s called Wat Tum Sua (and many other names too with similar yet different spellings).

When reading about Krabi, I read about beaches, boat rides, the movie “The Beach,” rock climbing . . . and this wat on the hill. It was said to be a pilgrimage site for many. To me it looked like a fascinating place to visit. But first I had to find it! I allowed myself to meander along the road heading out from Ao Nang beach area and came across some spectacular views of big ole rocks just sticking up out of the water. After I found my way to some pier and realized that I had no idea where I was, I decided it was time to get focused. Fortunately for me, there was a really nice Thai couple at the pier with their baby. She was singing lullabies, and he was fishing. And for a double dose of fortunate-ness, he spoke English (and very well at that). “Can you please show me where I am?” I asked. “Right here,” he said pointing at a peninsula well off my “desired” route. (Why the quotemarks? Because I must have really wanted to go there, or I would’t have!)

“And how to head towards the Krabi airport?”

“A right and another right,” he replied.

At that point, I realized that I knew where I was, or at least that I recognized the roads I’d gone past . . . And with that I was off. Ready to make my way to the wat.

But first, mother nature decided that a orange fanta break would be a good thing. And how did she let me know? With a downpour of rain. I found the perfect place to wait it out just before I was even a little bit wet. As I sat there, I watched a man on a scooter come rolling up with a little kid in tow. To my amazement, he was stopping there to get fuel. In the same vein as a rolling cart to cook up some Thai grinds, there was a little booth I hadn’t noticed (right where I’d parked my scooter), with a variety of bottles hanging down. Yep, inside was some fuel. As I sat and sipped my orange fanta, I watched the kind clerk open this one and that one and send a mix to his da kine. I also watched a tabby cat take a bath. And while this was happening, a little Thai boy was watching me. Maybe he’d never seen a farang (foreigner) before; he was certainly intrigued by me.

Okay den, at this rate, we’ll never get to the wat!

Suffice it to say that I mosied on down the road and found the wat–past the main town and then left on a fairly remote road northwest of the airport. But first, before I climbed up those 1,200 and a lot more steps, I realized that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast (and it was 3:15 p.m.). I drove right up to this open-air kitchen/restaurant sort of place where 2 young boys were playing pool, asked if there was any food to be served, and waited as they round up the cook! It ended up being a very nice woman who stir-fried up a wonderful mess of veggies (seasoned perfectly, they were very tasty) with some white rice. I enjoyed my lunch while I watched a dog !saddle up beside me and proceed to take a nap. Meanwhile, the kids kept playing pool. And as I ate, watched and listened, I heard the roar of elephants down the road. A very typical afternoon in Thailand. : )

“But did you ever make it to the wat?” you ask.

“Yep, I did.”

And wow, were there ever a LOT of steps to the top. It took 32-minutes to go up (and 22 to come down). I hung out there for over a half-hour and took a zillion pictures. Since I don’t have my computer here with me, I’ll have to wait to post them. But in the meantime, I found a shot on-line of part of the view at the top.

“What do you mean by part?”

Well, there was a lot more to see than that! It was so beautiful . . . in the rugged Thai kind of way. The actual wat was beautiful, but like most places here in Thailand, they’re surrounded by an assortment of this and that (yep, matches the theme of my glob very nicely, if you please : ).

I most thoroughly enjoyed myself.

: )

And then, as I listened to the rumble from the elephants far, far below, the sky decided to join in. Taking this as a sign that it was time to leave, I headed down the kazillion steps–just in time to take cover at the base. After a short wait (and enough time to down my cold water : ), it slowed enough for me to feel comfortable to head on.

And like a local (okay, maybe a very, very “green” local), I merged with traffic, (*) squoze between various vehicles, and (**) helied on back to my pad–after a few more detours. : ) Yep, I’m hooked on the scooter kind of travel–so much fun!!!

So, just a few days ago I said that I wouldn’t write anything for a while. Okay, I lied. I wrote lots and lots.

And am I smiling?

I think you can figure that one out all on your own.

And with that, I’m signing off and heading on to bed!

-sj

p.s. and happy anniversay to the total solar eclipse we saw aboard the SS Constitution in 1991 on this day . . . wow, 20-years ago!

! A great adventure, love your exuberance! I got a kick out of the dog that “saddled” up–presumably to be ridden out of there at full gallop! “Sidled up” I knew was what you meant–love those inadvertent jokes!
Take care,
Wil

-He was right, of course! But I kind of like the Freudian slip; maybe I wanted to ride that dog on out of there . . . or not. Poor fellow looked like he needed to be carried!

(*) squoze

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English

[edit] Verb

squoze

  1. (nonstandard, humorous) Simple past tense and past participle of squeeze.

[edit] See also

(**) from Hawaii . . .

There’s no time like the present . . .

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Here are shots I took on Friday during a several hour bike tour around Bangkok (and across the river). Our guide was absolutely adorable! She bubbled over with laughter, stories, and a general joie de vivre.

You can read all about this tour company here: www.realasia.net; we took the afternoon tour.

See you in a few weeks!

What a difference some sun makes!

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Here are an assortment of shots taken this past week when we were treated to blue skies.

The Rama VIII Bridge crosses the Chao Phraya River.
I was told that they weren’t racing but that it had to do with something spiritual.
I hoped off the boat for a little lunch.
The after shot. Not much of a difference was it?
Nice looking place
Interesting looking place
Respectful place. They love their king; he’s a good man.
Laundry day!
Waiting for the boat. They sounded American.
That’s Wat Arun on the other side of the river.
It’s hard to take only one shot.
It’s the wat with the porcelain pieces. Remember?
Boats are all over the place on this river!
Flowers for my friend
Such a great variety of orchids!
Didn’t make it to this museum.
But I liked the building.
Got my bracelet back! It’s fixed with ultra strong wire (I hope!).
See the BTS Skytrain?
Such a contrast from the river shots
Thought this was pretty cool looking (plus the blue sky is so wonderful!)

That’s all for now . . . next will be the shots from the bike tour I took yesterday. Was that ever exciting! I’m not bringing my computer with me though during the next two week adventure; I don’t want to have to “worry” about it going for a walkabout of its own. These things can walk on their own. Haven’t you seen those little retractable feet they have?

Okay den, until we meet again . . .