The flooding continues...

There has been a decision made to sacrifice the outskirts of Bangkok to protect the city center. The capital is protected by hundreds of thousands of sandbags and dikes that stop the flood waters from gushing in. While it makes sense to protect the Thai capital, residents in northern provinces are suffering. As their homes remain filled with water, and with supply stocks dwindling, tensions have begun to surface. In a few isolated incidents, resentful residents, “flood mobs,” have torn apart floodwalls with axes as well as their bare hands.

The following imagery was taken in the Temple district and along Chinatown from within Bangkok. As you can see, some water has already begun to seep into the capital. 

Pray for Thailand

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. It has been a very busy month here with the arrival of three visitors from home. My apartment is full of suitcases and hanging clothes. No dryers here in Bangkok! Never the need for one in Thailand. During this time I have had a fun and relaxing break from school. The Thai academic calender provides a few weeks in October for time off between the semesters. I took advantage of this time and headed off to the Koh Samui area to explore the island of Koh Phangan. Only a few hours after my visitors landed in Bangkok, we departed to the island--just in time to make the monthly full moon party. Before I go off on a tangent about all of my adventures, I must dedicate a few words to reflect and explain my experience with the current flooding crisis in Thailand.

Thai people are familiar with floods--it is a regular occurrence in these parts. Thailand is a tropical country with a monsoon season. The current flooding, triggered by the heavy rain that began in July, is the worst to hit Thailand since 1942. (NPR). More than one third of the country's provinces have been engulfed in water. Nine million people have been effected with 356 documented fatalities. Many factories, schools, and businesses have been flooded throughout the country. On Thursday, the central bank said that the damage to the industry amounted to over 100 billion baht ($3.3 billion dollars). (BBC) As the waters lap around the edges of Bangkok, a mild panic is setting in.

Yesterday, when I was in the grocery store, I saw a woman buy two whole shopping carts full of Ramen noodles. A man in another lane across from me bought twelve pink cases of Evian water. I noticed the empty shelves a few days ago while I attempted to buy a bottle of water. I visited three convenience stores--the shelves of which were cleaned out. One informed me that the next shipment would be at 7pm and that there was a list of customers who had already bought part of the shipment in advance. 7-11 has posted signs apologizing for the lack of products saying that their suppliers have been shut down or have been unable to deliver.

So where is the water? Just a few days ago I had water lapping at my ankles after I disembarked from the  Maharaj Pier by the temple district. Now, as I look outside my window, my neighborhood street looks dry and parched. But I know that the flood is out there. It's a strange feeling. I don't like the waiting. I feel stressed and anxious as I scan the Internet article headlines and Richard Barrow's tweet page. My biggest frustration is the lack of clarity from Thai officials and media. They have not been providing the public with adequate information. Here is a great article in the Bangkok Post that really puts what is going on into perspective.

Just yesterday, my nerves spiked as an announcement on the radio was made saying that a sluice gate had burst and that my neighborhood, along with a few others, had been hit by a meter of floodwater. I was an hour away from my home. It turned out to be a false alarm. From what I have been reading and hearing, the authorities are really screwing up. They are unorganized and do not know what they are doing. The Prime Minister, Yingluck who has been in office for two months has been shown crying on the news. The Thai administration and officials are being heavily criticised for how they are handling the situation. All in all, it's a pretty big mess and I'm wondering who is going to have to clean it all up. One thing for sure is, the Thai population has united and have each other's backs. Volunteers head up to the flooded or soon to be flooded areas and help to build large walls of sand bags. People are collecting donations of food, water and money to help victims. Businesses with large parking decks are opening them so that people can move and park their cars on higher ground.

So, has it hit Bangkok? Yes. Yesterday it finally reached the Don Muang area, which is where the Capitol's second airport is located, as well as the government flood relief center. I've included an image taken from an article by Patipat Janthong of a train pushing through a flooded track as it approaches the Don Muang Station.

The semester break was supposed to end this Tuesday. I received a call from the principle of the elementary school informing me that the school would be closed until Nov 1st. I know a bunch of my own students are from the Don Muang area. I hope that everyone will be ok. Please pray for Thailand...we need it.

Tinglish Tees

I've decided to do a photography series focusing on the hilarious and absurd T-shirts I have been seeing in Thailand. It seems that it has become a weekly occurrence, finding these T-shirts in the street markets or on a Thai teenager. Only today, I ran into a couple holding hands, the boy was wearing a bright yellow shirt with the words, "Can make a great baby," printed across his chest. ???! Unfortunately, I did not happen to have my camera to collect that one.

Here are a few from the market in Siam Center:

Press A Card

I'm on the mend from some health issues, so I've had plenty of time to catch up on photo editing. A few weekends ago, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to tour Press A Card, a local Thai print shop.  "Press A Card," is a letterpress print shop started by Nirut Krusuansombat. After finishing his undergraduate in Bangkok, Krusuansombat studied graphic design in the United States. He worked in the United States for awhile and then returned to Thailand to make his own mark. Taking the reigns of his aunt's print shop, he has been producing beautiful wedding invitation designs for many happy couples in Thailand and in other countries across the globe.

Krusuansombat has also had his hand in many other design projects. During my tour of his facilities he  shared some examples of his print and publication work. I was particularly impressed by his layout design for a photography monograph--a collection of imagery of Old Siam. Krusuansombat and his design team have a long list of clients including Miss Teen Thailand. During my visit, I saw a mock up of some pretty classy crowns being developed.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was when Krusuansombat showed me a drawer full of metal type pieces. He compared the whole set up to a font file and of course, he referenced the one and only, Helvetica. Before he opened up the first drawer, he turned to me, and said, "Think about 8 point Helvetica." As drawer upon drawer was pulled upon, thousands of pieces of tiny precious metal type glimmered in the dim room. Organized by size, Krusuansombat ticked off each size as he revealed the contents, "10 point Helvetica, 12, 14..." As I stared in wonder at these relics, I marveled upon my luck to see this. I had never seen metal type in person, let alone Thai type. Unfortunately, this process is not much in use anymore. As Krusuansombat designs his print projects with new and shiny fonts from Illustrator, he sends off his designs to be turned into plates through the etching process.

I would highly recommend anyone in Thailand to seek out Press A Card for any design work. It is evident that Nirut Krusuansombat is very passionate about graphic design. Here are some images from my tour:

Classroom Activities

As my students are preparing towards a teeny tiny test in the next few days, I think fondly about last week's fun activities. On Wednesday I was successful in pulling off another screening of Muzzy. Muzzy is an animated film language course targeted towards young learners. The BBC film series provides the opportunity for children to learn various languages such as English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, etc. I am a huge fan of the film as I grew up watching both the Spanish and French options. The characters are likable and the bluish green monster, Muzzy is reminiscent of the Cookie Monster in Sesame Street.

This is the second time I have been able to utilize technology within the classroom. Two rooms in the building can be booked in advance for use. Each of these rooms host a projector and a screen. While this is far off from my experience with a Promethean Board during my student teaching (I was so spoiled!) it is so wonderful to be able to use technology in the classroom again. Once I realized I could, I was eager to bring in clips and short films for my young students. As an adult, it is so clear to me how programs such as Sesame Street and Muzzy are so successful in introducing new concepts and engaging children in learning.Therefore I am determined to show the rest of the Muzzy series to my class throughout the year, as I feel it will be a great resource for leaning English as a second language.

Other fun stuff we did last week. I had mentioned in my last post that I was planning a Eric Carle lesson. After reading,"The Very Hungry Caterpillar," my students reviewed the prepositions of place we had been learning and applied the new vocabulary to a very cute project. Here are some pics of some of the great work that came out of class!

The Adventure Store and some traveling advice

I'm taking a break from prepping my 1st grade lesson. I am planning on doing a lesson based around one of my favorite children's books, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle. So I'm on track to trace out 144 apples for the art activity. 20 apples in and I'm already on a break.

This weekend was very tame compared to the previous weekend adventure with Lisa to Koh Samet. I made a new friend this weekend, Trevor. He may be jumping on board with the private school that I am teaching at. So this weekend I showed Trevor parts of Siam Square, a restaurant by the Chao Praya River and we both tried out some food in Thong Lor at Soul Food Mahanakorn. I had a yummy drink called Jai Yen Yen, which means Cool Down/Chill out which is totally what I needed after a hellish Friday (I'll scratch the surface on that later). We also explored and grabbed a bite to eat on Sunday at Som Tam Nua, a small tiny restaurant in Siam Sq. They had delightful Thai som tam (papaya salad) and delicious chicken wings. Both of these places were amaaazing and have now become my two new favorite restaurants in Bangkok.
Nom Nom Nom.

So, lessons and things I have learned this week.

1.  Do not use a Thai debit/bank card to buy plane tickets. Even if the website (cough cough Bangkok Air cough cough) tells you that debit and credit cards can be used to purchase tickets. What they really mean is international debit cards, like the ones in America, can be used. I tried using my new Thai bank card to buy a ticket and my money vanished into cyber space. After three hours of talking to wayyyy to many people form the airline company and my own bank in strangled Thai, we have reached a resolution that will kick in sometime later this week. Perhaps in seven days. Currently, I am out 7,308 baht and no airline tickets. whomp whomp.

2. 7-11, otherwise known as the Adventure Store ( renamed by my old roommate to cleverly convince others to join her on a quick convenience run in their drunken states) is a common fixture on every block of Bangkok. For those who live in Richmond, think about how often you see a tattoo parlor in Richmond City, that's pretty much how typical 7-11s are here. To everyone outside of Richmond, it would be safe to compare it to the multitude of Starbucks that reside on every walking block.

Back to the point- 7-11 is truly an adventure store. Here in Thailand, not only does the majority of the country refill their phone service (buy minutes) in 7-11, but they also pay their Internet bills, water and electricity bills throughout the country at these stores.

What amazed me the other day was that you can purchase airline tickets at 7-11. Prior to the shock of knowing that my funds had been lost in cyber space, I was told by Bangkok air that I could make a reservation online or on the phone and then pay for my tickets at 7-11. So friends, there you have it.
7-11, your one stop store. I don't think any other store in the world can claim that.

3. Bumrungrad International Hospital provides world class service. The hospital is decorated in such a way, one would think you were arriving at a beautiful hotel. The decor and cleanliness sets you immediately to ease, and makes it possible to forget whatever ails you.

That's all for now folks. Goodnight.

Airfare Heaven

I just received some wonderful news! My cousin Spencer, is coming to visit in October! Looks like I'm having a full house in Thailand. So far, I have three visitors who have signed up to venture over to South East Asia. My cousin's travel plans also align with some of his old college buddies. The group has planned to celebrate the full moon party at Koh Phangan, Thailand. The full moon party is an all-night party which hosts an wide variety of music and festive activities such as fire skipping ropes and drinking from buckets.

I have yet to experience this and when I heard Spencer was going. I quickly jumped on board with his plan. Scouring the Internet for airline tickets to Koh Samui, I was lucky to find tickets to the online for 3560 baht ($122 US) on Bangkok Airways. I was disappointed to learn that AirAsia, whose slogan is, "World's Best Low-Cost Airline." does not fly to Koh Samui.

What I just found on AirAsia.com left me stunned. A new promotion was just posted two days ago. In honor of the world-class flower festival (?) the airline is offering the following rates if booked in the next three days:

A good chunk of domestic flights in Thailand for less than 1000 Baht ($34 US). Including Krabi and Phuket! Two beach locations! You can bet I'll be scoring one of those flights. The only catch is the traveling periods for the promotion are from Jan 3rd 2012- Feb 28th 2012.

Oh wait there's more:

Want to fly to Cambodia? Sure why not? It's less than $34.

How about India? For $79? That's pretty hard to say no to.

Indonesia? Macau? Myanmar? Singapore? Vietnam?

My mind is blown.

Living in Bangkok

I have now been living in Bangkok, Thailand for two months. While I had visited Thailand frequently during my youth, this is the first time I have set up a residency here. In these last two months, I have been able to visit three beaches, eat lots of yummy delicious Thai food, bar hop on the Chao Phraya River and ride every single form of transportation Thailand has to offer. It hasn't been all fun and games. I've also been working at a Thai private school teaching English and art. This is my first "big girl" job. My first job right out of college. At the moment, I feel like I am working a summer job. An intense summer camp. When my undergraduate friends start up their fall semester classes again, I'm sure my perspective will change.

So, I feel as if I should explain the title of my blog, "Teaching Tinglish Barefoot." Wikipedia explains Tinglish wonderfully. As I mentioned earlier, I am teaching English as a foreign language. The majority of my students speak Thai as their first language. My job is to guide and coax these students to speak and to learn the English language. However, since they are so young (first grade!) they struggle to communicate full basic sentences in English. Even the most common phrases ( May I go to the bathroom? Can I go get a drink of water?) are still speckled with Thai. My exchange with the Thai staff could also be considered as Tinglish. My Thai is quite spotty as I haven't visited in a few years, but I feel like I am improving every day.  My day is filled with small challenges as I hurtle over language barriers with both my students and supervisors. Each day I leave school, exhausted from the teaching actives. Some days I feel like a champion, gaining small victories in my classroom. Some days I feel like a sack of potatoes, not having been able to manage my classes.

The best part of my job is being able to teach barefoot. Thai custom and culture calls for the removal of shoes upon entering a building or a temple. It is a typical to find all of my student's shoes neatly lined up outside of the classroom. As a teacher, it is not mandatory for me to take off my shoes while I teach. However, I am happy to oblige this practice. Every day, I walk into my classroom and slip of my shoes before being greeted by my students. Being barefoot, I feel an immediate flood of confidence and comfort. There is nothing like feeling stable and balanced, and being in an active classroom of thirty-six students, being barefoot is a huge plus. I can move easily, manage and rotate around the classroom.

I'm planning on sharing my successes and failures as I try to find my footing in these Thai classrooms. I am also hoping that this blog will inspire me to post my photographs of my adventures and experiences throughout Thailand.