I Swear I Didn’t Fall Off the Face of the Earth…

Location: Pattaya & Koh Phangan, Thailand

Adventure of the Day Weeks: From teaching 36 children to sitting beachside in the blink of an overnight train!

Really, I promise I didn't fall off the face of the earth, or get in the way of a very hungry and pregnant elephant (more on that later). I just passed out every time I got back to my room. Literally (not literally). Why do you ask? 

That’s eight steps per half flight. Two steps on each landing. 82 steps total. No elevator. And I don’t mean it as a complaint. Sure, getting up there after a long morning of teaching was a trial, but after two weeks of it I have legs of steel. Well, I'm sure they'd be well on their way to legs of steel if I were to continue living there. There's something to be said about not having conveniences like elevators. 

Anywho, when not on the staircase I spent my time in Pattaya learning the Thai language, getting an education in Thai culture, and most importantly practice teaching. It was an absolutely crazy schedule but so incredibly rewarding. 

The first week I was working at a private kindergarten about 30 minutes outside of Pattaya working with Meghan, Hannah, and Hayley. The little ones were mostly the children of employees at the local Navy base, we were informed. Actually, Hayley and I were supposed to be at an orphanage, but Monday morning were informed they had the week off, so we went to Attitaan Kindergarten. The first class was 30 minutes with 20-odd 3-4 year olds (K1) with all four of us. Then Meghan and I moved on to an hour long class with about 34 5 year olds (K3). It was so nice to have the support of another teacher that first week. 

However, the second week I did end up at Baan jing jai Orphanage, on the outskirts of Pattaya (on the East side of Sukhumvit Road). I was prepared the first day for 20-25 3-7 year olds. I had four 5-10 year olds. And every day there was exponential increases. Tuesday I had five students, Wednesday eight, Thursday 14, and Friday 36 students, ranging from 3 to 11 or so. Needless to say my lesson plan that last day went right out the window. 

But the kids! Their little faces as they were learning, the moments when they used whole sentences without my asking them to, were what this whole endeavor really is all about.

Before I knew it, it was Friday 7 October, and it was our last day in Pattaya. The week prior six of us (seven including David, who's doing the program in Vietnam) made plans to travel down to Koh Phangan for some fun and decompression during the Full Moon festival. But it was the last night all nine of us were together. 

We took our time getting to Bangkok on Saturday, before taking the overnight train down to Surat Thani in the south on Sunday night. The night train was such an amazing experience. We were in the caboose, which was a blessing and a curse. We didn't have any people walking past up — less interruptions, but less getting to know people. But we're a lively bunch, so we walking around the train we did get to meet people. Two really cool guys from India in the car before ours. They gave me some little crackerbits-things that were pretty spicy, and good with a drink. 

Then I walked all the way up to the front of the train. Not really dangerous, seeing as it's a train and there's no way to get lost when there's really only one long hallway. But going in-between the cars was fun — particularly the further up I went. The air-conditioned first and second class cars gave way to non-air-conditioned second and third class. Third class didn't have beds, and the lowest level didn't even have reclining chairs. All the way at the front I met some men in official uniforms. I asked if that was the last car, and they had me sit down. About this time the train stopped, so needless to say I was a bit confused. Then the most senior-looking man asked me to write down my name. So I wrote — like I'd been doing all week on the board at school — "My name is Anne." Then he...just wrote down his own name! I said goodbye and made my way back down the train. 

But I got stopped again when I ran into four Americans in Third class. Their names were Mike, Michael, Sam, and Spencer, and it really is a small world — they're graduates of University of Santa Barbara, where Kim goes! We talked for about an hour, Meghan and Kate eventually joined us, all the while squeezing together so train employees and people selling food could pass.

I got a relatively OK night's sleep before we arrived in Surat Thani at 7 AM on Monday. We got off the train and found some people (rather, they found us) providing high-speed transport to Koh Phangan, so instead of a six hour ferry ride we were in our beach bungalows at the Triangle Lodge by noon.

So now I'm sitting here in the "restaurant" area of the main building. There's no real hotel — just six bungalows right on the beach. I am literally fifty feet from the ocean when I'm sleeping. However, we only have one plug in our bungalow and my computer, Cheese, doesn't like to pick up the internet over there, so I'm sitting at the front desk while the family that runs the Lodge sits watching TV on the deck of the restaurant. They actually live right here on the deck — there's beds and their dining table on half of the porch. There is the grandmother, a couple and their eight-month-old, the man's brother, and another woman of the family.

I'm going to try and upload photos soon. Over the next few days I'm just planning on relaxing, sleeping in the sun on the beach (but out of the way of red biting ants), and recording some of the amazing things I've experienced in my four-plus weeks in Asia. Just writing that is crazy — I've been here more than a month already!