Site Visit
I have nothing to compare the site visit to. It is overwhelming to be plopped in the middle of a new culture. We have had so much preparation with language, culture classes, home stay, and being with Thai people. However, here we are on our own.
Three of us are in the same province and we rode the bus together and had one meeting together. Other than that, we are all on our own.
The Thai teachers, their families, the school pa aws (principals), and the director of education and her staff have been over the top hospitable. I have stayed at 2 different homes. The first was with Kruu Joom, who I will teach with at Ban Serm school. She, her husband and their 2 year old were so warm and welcoming. The second night I was with Kruu Muanthong. Here children are adults and were in and out. The director of education had a meeting on Sat. with the PCV’s, the co-teachers and many of her staff.
She has a strong vision for her district and very specific requests and goals. It is much of what we have practiced in training, English camps, Teacher training camps, co-teaching and health education. There is a festival here on the Mekong River every year in Oct. called Amazing Phonpshisai Bang Paya Nak. Lights actually spring from the river into the air. They rise about 20-30 meters and then they disappear. The lights are small, from thumb size to goose egg size and they are red, pink and orange. It might be a nice time to plan a visit. The director wants students to be tour guides for this festival and to be able to speak English with the people who come for the festival. She is very dynamic and proactive. Our co-teachers all speak enough English to be able to work together and plan at at least one school. In my second school, the English teacher is very new to teaching and speaks almost no English. He also speaks very fast in Thai, so we will have to figure out how to plan and implement lessons. He is eager to learn English. The director took all of us to lunch at a place on the river. Again, meals are so communal with LOTS of food, conversation and smiles.
I spent some time Monday at both schools. The children are adorable and so curious. I need to get better at Thai in order to talk with them. However, we were advised to only speak English in the classroom in the interest of students learning as much as possible.
The village I will live and work in is very small, remote and rural. The real Peace Corp experience is about to begin!
Pictures of the market on the Mekong, the lunch there and the co-teachers I stayed with for this visit. Also the send off at the bus station.
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