Last week as a volunteer teacher - Monday 17th - Friday 21st March

The final week had come around for me faster than I could blink. I'm not supposed to leave, I'm the one that says goodbye to those leaving every week! My time was up now and it felt vey strange. I'd settled down pretty well in just six weeks in Surin. I have loved every minute of my time in the classroom as a volunteer teacher and enjoyed my free time with fellow volunteers too. I've gained so much insight into children, Thai culture, food and language, as well as other things. I've learnt to relax, to be spontaneous rather than so planned out all the time and finally to learn not to worry over little things. I've met some incredible people, both the Thai and the fellow volunteers and have really enjoyed making new friends from all over the globe. I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity really!

This week I was teaching a special class of children who had chosen to come into school especially to learn English. School was shut for summer holidays now, so these children were a delight to teach as they had chosen to be there. It was a new challenge teaching a mixed age and ability group and I had to tailor my teaching style and worksheets to suit all of them. My coordinator, Nikki, helped me quite a lot this week - it is difficult teaching how to tell the time in English! It was so rewarding to see that they understood though and hearing them shout out the time made us feel so proud! I also taught the children some holiday vocabulary at the end of the week.

On my last day, we had a small party for us all. I took in snacks and drinks for the children as a treat and they were so polite and helpful in helping set up and serve. It was wonderful seeing them so happy and playing and smiling. It was so sweet to be given flowers as a token of gratitude. It was tough saying goodbye, but equally I know they are happy and will learn more with new volunteers.

In the evenings this week, I went for runs in the park. On Wednesday, we all treated ourselves to luxurious ice cream. It was Sara and Fred's last day as medical volunteers so a bit of a leaving do for them. Fred and Sara have been wonderful to talk to about travelling and learn medical related things from. On Thursday, my last evening, our coordinator, Nam, invited us for dinner. She made my favourite Thai dish -green curry! It was so lovely all eating together coordinators and volunteers. It was great to spend time talking to other English girls who arrived last week. They are a sweet group.

For my last day today, I have enjoyed a traditional Thai massage. I was stretched and stood on and it felt so rejuvenating. I am so perfectly relaxed now for my bus ride to Bangkok and flight to Bali. Let the next part of the journey begin!

Week five of volunteering - Childcare - Monday 10th - Thursday 13th March

This week, I was volunteering at a different project as my schoolchildren had their end of year exams, so I volunteered at the childcare centre. The children at the childcare centre are aged between two and four. There are all sorts of activities to keep them entertained throughout the day. The mornings begin with breakfast snacks, daily sing-song, some physical exercise, followed by lots of playing and some dvd watching. Next is lunch and then a nap for two hours. When they are freshly energised from their naps, there are more snacks and playing, before their school bus picks them up at 3pm.

I really enjoyed playing with the children and didn't know how the mornings passed so quickly. I'd be used as a climbing frame, as a hair model and as a sofa! They children are so loving and playful and I'd gotten quite attached to them already in my two days at the childcare centre last week. This week we had two new volunteers at the childcare centre. Lauren and Jay are childhood studies students and this was their placement, so it was interesting to hear their ideas about the way that children interact, behave and socialise. I enjoyed spending my days with Lauren and Jay, they are lovely girls.

It was a busy week in the evenings. A longer run than usual on Monday evening, trip planning for upcoming Cambodia weekend on Tuesday and Thursday and a visit to the night market on Wednesday evening. On Thursday evening, we went for a meal at the restaurant that serves pad-thai wrapped in an omelette, to say farewell to Steph. She was heading back home to Australia that night.

It is strange to think that I have been living in Thailand for five weeks now and saying farewells to people every week and it will be next weekend. For now though, Cambodia awaits! I am so eager to see the world famous Angkor Wat temples and experience Cambodian culture and food.

More goodbyes but hellos too! Weekend four - Friday 7th - Sunday 9th March

The weekend already! On Friday, we enjoyed our last day with Amber, Becky and Alex by relaxing and swimming at the pool. We bid them farewell by having dinner at our favourite local restaurant. Tomorrow morning once we say our goodbyes to them, it will be just Steph and I until our new volunteers and housemates arrive on Sunday evening.

After the morning goodbyes on Saturday, Steph and I went to our coordinators' Tukky and Worn's village to teach the village children English for the day. The class was held at Tukky's house and the children were a mixed age group. It was so lovely to teach again as I had missed school a couple of days during the week and worked at the childcare centre. Steph and I taught the children fruits, animals and classroom objects. They really enjoyed doing the word searches! It was an enjoyable day and I wished I could come again to teach the village children. A quiet evening for Steph and I, but we kept busy by cooking dinner, trip planning, chatting and reading.

Our coordinator, Worn picked us up on Sunday morning to go and watch some local football being played between his team and opponents. Having been to watch a couple of weekends ago and really enjoying the atmosphere, I was delighted to be able to go again. Another victory for Worn's team and smiles all around. On the way home, we stopped off at a watermelon farm and bought a whole bag of fresh watermelons! We returned home and Worn taught us how to make Thai fried rice for lunch. Watermelons and fried rice - just wonderful!

After a quick clean and relax, we were eager to welcome our new housemates. There were two new medical volunteers from Sweden called Fred and Sara, and two new childcare volunteers from England called Lauren and Jay. We were all chatting away in no time. The coordinators and Steph and I took them for dinner and to the local supermarket. It was good to be able to welcome them into the home and fill them in a little bit about Surin.

Week four of volunteering - Monday 4th - Thursday 6th March

This week is slightly different to my usual teaching in school Monday - Thursday. We were all invited to attend the opening ceremony of the childcare centre's new building on Monday. There were a lot of people invited from the village, as well as parents, friends and families of the children and teachers from the childcare centre. It was a momentous occasion as the childcare centre staff, local villagers, monks and volunteers had been working hard to construct this new building for the last six years. So it is wonderful for everyone to finally see it come together. Although, the roof still remains to be finished, they will be well under way to achieve this also, as my housemates have managed to successfully fundraise approximately £2000 through family and friends. Well done Amber, Becky, Louise and Alex!

We went in the truck together, a little more dressed up than everyday, and upon arrival at the childcare centre, we spotted some of the children and their parents, dressed up and full of smiles. First, there was a small Buddhist ceremony given by the monks, in order to bless the building auspiciously before its first use. Then, there was plenty of food and sweet celebratory treats. It was interesting to try these! We were then blessed with string bracelets, which represent luck, by the monks. The ceremony and the lucky string bracelets tradition reassembled the Hindu tradition that I grew up with. We also had ceremonies for new houses or buildings and had important sweet food and lucky string bracelets presented to us by priests. After helping wash and clean up, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon by cooling down with ice cream. It was a very hot day!

In the evening, we went to the festival/fair in the local park where I normally run. This is an annual event that runs for a week, in celebration of the rice farmers. There was a stage with traditional Thai dancing, a Miss Surin competition and gorgeous Thai children all dressed up and modelling children's clothing. There was also food stalls, gift stalls and games stalls. It was lovely to wander around. After several attempts, unfortunately we were unable to win a huge cuddly toy, by throwing darts accurately at the board, for our coordinator Tuk!

On Tuesday, I went to school and taught my seven and eight year olds about family members. I also recapped animals. It was pancake day today, so in the evening we all got together to toss some pancakes up and enjoy them with various toppings. It was so much fun and our coordinators enjoyed learning how to toss a traditional English pancake!

I was back at the childcare centre on Wednesday and Thursday, as my schoolchildren had exams. It was a different experience and I enjoyed playing and interacting with the children. They are aged between two and four and are adorable. We also help serve them lunch, wash and clean up after lunch and get them settled down for their afternoon nap time. It was Amber, Becky and Alex's last day at the childcare centre on Thursday and it was rather emotional for them to say goodbye to children and teachers. In order to cheer them up, we all went on a road trip to pick up our housemate Steph from the elephant village. Any excuse to see elephants again!

This weekend I will be saying bye-bye to them and welcoming in new volunteers/ housemates. Even though this is becoming a weekly thing now, goodbyes do not get easier!

Halfway weekend - Friday 28th Feb - Sunday 2 March

I can't believe I am halfway through my volunteering experience! On Friday, we spent the day at the pool, swimming and cooling down. It was nice to have Steph back from the elephant sanctuary so we all caught up with how her week went. After a run around the park and some dinner, we got ready to give Sarah her send off.

On Saturday morning, for her return home to Australia, we went to get pedicures. This was an interesting experience. We enjoyed watching some Thai tv and sitting on a comfy sofa (no sofas in our house), while the beauticians pampered our feet. Sarah had managed to grow her nails so wanted to show them off with a nice French manicure. However, the beauticians were not able to understand Sarah's request. I had to demonstrate with a nail file to show them, but it was still a challenge. They were very sweet though and tried their very best. After scrubbing and polishing, we had gorgeous, clean ladylike feet again! Sarah also had pretty hands.

The temperatures had really soared up in the last week and we had highs of 39 degrees some afternoons. As you can imagine, we were not keen to leave the house. An FRIENDS marathon before Sarah's departure and then a funny film to cheer us up once she had left.

Sunday was spent doing lots of trip planning and some household tasks, in preparation of a new week ahead.

Week three of teaching English in Surin - Monday 24th - Thursday 27th February

How is it week three already and halfway through my volunteering experience?! My school kids were rather excitable, as most of them have school trips this week and next. On Monday, I taught the daily routine to my secondary students and on Tuesday I taught my primary children classroom objects vocabulary. As a mid-week treat, we all went on a cinema outing on Tuesday evening. We were all so happy to find a film showing in original English as they are usually dubbed in Thai. Armed with our popcorn, we enjoyed the film Pompeii. In Thailand, before a film begins, a tribute is made to the royal family and there is a standing ovation in the cinema. It was a great film and we enjoyed the Thai cinema experience.

On Wednesday, I taught my primary class how to tell the time. It was rather challenging, not only because teaching to tell the time is difficult when you can't explain in their native tongue, but also because my students were just not able to focus. It was unusual for that particular class, so I put it down to it being a hot day and them being preoccupied thinking about their school trip the next day. So far, all the children have been very we behaved and had good concentration, so this was a new challenge for both myself and my coordinator, Nikki.

Wednesday evening was meant to be a quiet evening with housemates playing UNO but turned into a dramatic evening of screams and paranoia, after we saw a cockroach in the kitchen. We initially thought it would be fine to move it out the house with something, until it started flying around rapidly into the living room. As you can probably imagine, we were all screaming and jumping. We were unable to find it, so sat outside for a long while trying to forget about it. When we eventually wanted to go to bed and hadn't still forgotten, we carefully turned over and moved every item in the living room, and next in my bedroom. What if it had flown into my bedroom?? Still unable to source it we were just about to walk away, when it flied out of some corner again! More screaming and jumping until Sarah and Alex come to the rescue and help dispose of it. A very jumpy evening indeed! I think some of us are still paranoid everytime we sit in living room or go into the kitchen..

On Thursday, I went to a different volunteer project as my schoolchildren were away on their school trips. I accompanied my other housemates to the child care centre where they go to volunteer. This is like a private nursery for two and three year olds. I'd already heard so much about this place from my housemates, so I was looking forward to a new experience. The children are absolutely adorable and in playing with them all morning with Lego and singing nursery rhymes, I barely registered the morning turn to afternoon! The childcare centre is lacking funding to develop building so my housemates are organising fundraising for it. If you would like to donate money, please do contact me. A spot of lunch in Surin town and by evening we were welcoming back our new housemate Steph, from her week at the elephant sanctuary.

I thought it wasn't possible to like Thailand any more than I already did from my last visit, but the more I learn everyday the more I fall in love with the country.

Relaxing weekend - Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February

After the drama and complications of the previous evening, we all enjoyed a lovely lie-in. I woke up to an empty room (miss you Maryam!). One of our coordinators, Worn, invited us to watch him and his team play at a local football match. We were all very excited! Worn is the captain and he drove us all to his local village. As per
usual everyone was fascinated by us and trying to talk to us. As we were walking to our seats, I heard my name being shouted over the microphone. I looked around and spotted one of the teachers from school on the microphone - turns out that he commentates for these local matches! The atmosphere was great, as was the football, with Worn's team winning 3-1! What a great day out. We even managed to get photos with the team.

Another pair of lovely ladies were departing this evening. Jess and Fliss were both going to explore further and we decided to have a homemade western meal together to see them off. A big shop at our local supermarket and we were equipped with ingredients for home made favourites. It was so nice to all cook and prepare the pasta and garlic bread together. Both Jess and Fliss have adventures ahead but it was sad to see another two go.

On Sunday, we had a relaxing pool day. Dipping in and out of the swimming pool and reading books, it was ultimate relaxation. By evening, we were ready to welcome a new volunteer and housemate! Steph is from Australia and will be doing the elephant sanctuary project. We took her out for dinner to our favourite local and then to the supermarket. We were all playing UNO again and getting competitive. A new week awaits and I am still looking forward to Mondays :)

Goodbye Maryam and Louise! - Thursday 20th and Friday 21st February

It was the end of the working week and sadly time to say goodbye to some of our fellow volunteers. My housemates Maryam and Louise were flying back home. Our coordinator Nam organised a big meal together at the Starfish office. Nam's mum is a top chef and made a huge pot of pad Thai for all of us. It was absolutely delicious. We were also lucky to experience Thai dessert of colourful wheat balls in coconut milk. It was very sweet and homely and resembled fruit loop cereal in milk.

After wishing Louise goodbye the next day, we enjoyed a day in the park with a picnic, cards and books. It was quiet and sunny so very relaxing.

For Maryam's farewell, we decided to go to a karaoke bar. We were unable to find the place where music was blaring from, so in the end settled for a rooftop restaurant. They had western and Thai food on their menu. The waitresses were unable to understand anything we were saying as they did not speak any English. So we pointed out our choices, gesticulating for quantities. Forty five minutes later there was still no sign of most of our meals. All the other tables around us were served food in this time, even though their dishes were more complex. We were unable to wait any longer so decided to ask for the bill and pay for our drinks and leave. This took some time to communicate, almost as long as we were waiting for our food. Eventually having finally paid, we left. Where to go now?

We thought to try our local restaurant who were always quick to serve food, were friendly and accommodating. Much to our horror it was shut! Now what! Surin is a small town and there aren't so many places to eat near our house. We thought to venture down on same road and explore our options. Surely it would be third time lucky?

On our way, we were obstructed by a pack of dogs that were loitering around in the middle of the street. Oh dear. They looked ferocious but awkward, and we were hesitant to walk past them. They seemed to be stuck together at their rears. We were unsure if they were mating or not and we were not  comfortable to be around them. We crossed the road, hoping they wouldn't bark or follow us. It was fine and we were able to continue our journey. Next, we came across a weak looking wooden bridge which would be means to get across to the other side of the road. This looked very unstable and the risk of falling into the dirty water and catching dengue fever from water mosquitos was too much to bring out our risky personalities! We just wanted to sit together somewhere and eat for Maryam's last meal! Why not just try the place that was next to us on the side of the road, we thought. Little did we realise that this was a hotpot restaurant that did not understand the concept of vegetarianism. It was not possible to order just small side dishes either. Two of is were vegetarian and others weren't keen for meat hotpots, so after awkward thank yous to the waitresses, we were back to the drawing board.

Fourth attempt now and finally we found somewhere that was lit up. It had many people sat in the restaurant, so looked like a good option. We were very happy to be seated and presented with English menus and an English speaking waitress! Having taken all evening to find, we were short on time now, so we stuck to ordering simple dishes. While we waited for our food, we witnessed a van park up and the doors open up to a luxurious looking interior with leather suite inside! There were some men exchanging carrier bags and it all looked rather black market. Our attention was then diverted to one of the customers introducing themselves to us, requesting for introductions. It turned out that her brother thought we were a beautiful bunch of foreigners and insisted on paying for our meal. We declined the offer politely. They then got the waitress to send us the same message. Again, we declined the offer politely. The food arrived and we were delirious to finally be seated and eating. As we finished up and asked for the bill, the waitress explained that the gentleman who requested earlier, had already paid for us. Furious as we had already declined the offer, we had no choice, we didn't want to give them the wrong impression, so we left quickly without looking back.

We were grateful to be back home after an eventful evening. What a send off for poor Maryam!

Week two of teaching English in Surin

The whole of this second week has passed in a blink of an eye. Perhaps it's because once you form a routine, days pass so quickly. This week I have enjoyed planning lessons, worksheets and classroom materials. I made animals using pipe cleaners with the help of my more creative housemates (thank you Louise and Becky!) to help with teaching animals to my seven and eight year olds. There was a lot of animal drawing on the white board this week, as well as deciphering the animals! I also taught months of the year to seven and eight year olds this week and they made a beautiful coloured in letters collage, which now brightens up the walls.

On Thursday, we had a sudden drop in temperature and it was very cold! It was only 17 degrees centigrade all morning and we were wrapping up in layers! Many children were absent from school due to the cold. As a treat for coming to school they got to watch Madagascar 3 which they loved! Seeing some children poorly dressed for cold day made me realise how little money some of the families had. Many parents of the children are rice farmers and at the moment, the Thai government owes money to rice farmers due to debt. I wished I had warmer clothes to offer them but they were all back home in London.

This week in my spare time, I have enjoyed running in the local park. There is a running track and a cycling track and even exercise equipment. It is so pleasant and always busy with people keeping fit in evenings. I've really enjoyed running whilst watching the sun set.

Elephant riding - Saturday 15th February

After a lovely sleep (despite the roosters and the elephants making a racket!) we were treated to a naughty western breakfast of toast with Nutella, nesquick cereal and hot chocolate. Tuk knew us well! This was all burned off within the hour as we had to cut sugar cane with a machetti! This was hard work but good fun and nice treats for our elephants. We all went over to the elephants and fed them and got to know them. We were then paired up with elephants. I am the shortest so was paired with a young elephant. Her name was Nam Wan and she was adorable! She was also very curious about every single plant we passed and picked off what she could eat. She would then smell it and then throw it on the floor. So naughty! An elephant is a bumpy ride and full of spontaneous sidetracks. I was loving every minute! The highlight was going into the lake with Nam Wan and being dipped into the water. I was soaked but it felt wonderful! I also almost fell off and was trying to get back on Nam Wan. My friends have it all on video too, so you have that to look forward to!

Nam Wan gave me a kiss with her trunk when we said bye bye. Our elephant rides were just under two hours, so you can imagine how tired we were. Our legs and bums ached but in a good, exercise workout kind of way. Another delicious home cooked Thai lunch courtesy of Tuk and freshly showered, we were ready for the rest of the afternoon. We were taken to the Silk village. This was lots of stalls and shops of silk clothing and gifts. They were beautiful.

We all had such a great couple of days at the elephant sanctuary and were full of smiles. Definitely the highlight of the trip so far and I would not hesitate to ride an elephant again!

Valentine's Day at the Elephant Sanctuary - Friday 14th February

On Friday morning, we met with our co-ordinator, Tuk, and she drove the six of us in the truck to the village where the elephant sanctuary is. We were all super excited and kept our eyes peeled for elephants en route. A short one hour drive and we were all gasping and squealing at the sight of so many beautiful elephants. We walked around and stroked them and took photos before the wedding parade began. As it was Valentine's day, the elephant sanctuary allows couples to get married on the elephants. There were so many couples all dressed up beautifully and on decorated elephants, awaiting their ceremony. They were of all ages and different backgrounds. The ceremonies were in Thai so we didn't understand it but it was interesting to watch nevertheless.

After a spot of delicious lunch at a cafe, we went to see the elephants perform. This was so much fun! Elephants are very smart and so cute. They were doing tricks like the hula hoop with their trunks and playing football and scoring goals. The elephants could also play basketball, dance and bow down! When they asked for helpers, my friends all shot their hands up! They were asked to lay down and the elephants gave them massages by stepping their feet on their bums, backs and legs. This was absolutely hilarious and the crowd loved it, especially as the helpers getting massages were all 'farang' meaning foreigner. My friends loved the experience and being applauded.

After the show, we headed to our home stay. It was a beautiful house in the village. We relaxed and napped a bit before Tuk made us some delicious Thai dinner. Home cooked food is so lovely and it was the first time I had any home cooked Thai food. After dinner we helped clean up and went for a walk around the village. The villagers enjoyed seeing us and smiled and waved. As it got dark, we headed back. We enjoyed some card games before having an early night.

First day at school - Monday 10th February

Monday was here and everyone was full of excitement and a tinge of nerves for their first day. I was picked up to go to school by one of the teachers and my co-ordinator. It is approximately a 20 minute car ride. The school is huge with many classrooms, a huge playground and sports area, music room, library, kitchen, staff room and school shop. It is a primary and secondary school where the youngest children are seven years old and the oldest are 15.

I was asked to stand in front of all 500 students and the teachers at morning assembly and introduce myself using a microphone. How daunting! They all applauded me and welcomed me very warmly. Lessons started soon after assembly and I had a mixed range of classes for my first day.

The school is reliant on volunteer teachers for English lessons and I am pretty much in charge of lesson outline and teaching, as well as preparing materials for class. Although the first day was rather full on, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. The children are absolutely adorable and very respectful. The teachers are all very sweet and friendly. I am very lucky as the school chef also prepares a vegetarian meal for my lunch everyday.

I taught two secondary classes and one primary class on my first day. By the end of the day I was pretty tired, having talked a lot and ran around playground in heat. I can't wait to be back at school. I expect that there will be different rewards and challenges everyday, which is the beauty of teaching.

Journey to Surin - Sunday 9th February

Today we all rose early to make our journey to Surin, where we will be based for our volunteering projects. Surin is approximately 6-7 hour coach journey from Bangkok. We were all very impressed with the coach station and, in particular, the coach. We were spoilt with comfy seats with folding leg rests, tv screens, bottled water, snacks and a meal. There was even a clean toilet and elegant coach hostess serving us for the journey. To top it off we were provided with blankets to keep us warm if napping. I've not had flights with such good service and facilities! We all enjoyed the coach journey, amusing ourselves with tales and jokes, playing puzzle games (thank you Laura Hadfield!) and snoozing. As we got nearer Surin, we started to get excited seeing the different things the town has to offer.

Finally we were greeted into our new home by late afternoon. The nine of us volunteers are all staying in one big guesthouse together which has a kitchen and living area too. As you can imagine, we were all so happy to be unpacking and settling in. Later that evening our project manager and co-ordinators gave us useful information about the town and later about our volunteer projects. 

I am the only volunteer English teacher. My fellow volunteers and housemates are on other volunteer projects, such as elephant sanctuary, medical, construction and childcare. Over a group dinner at one of the local restaurants, we all swapped notes about our projects and made plans to fill our weekends with excursions.  We also planned weekday leisure activities to fill our evenings.

We all turned in early so to be best prepared for our first day on our volunteer projects. Never before has a Monday morning been so eagerly anticipated!