Christmas In Na Kae!!

The run up to Christmas here in Na Kae has been... strange, but great! For the past week or so we've had Christmas songs being played in the mornings at school, and lessons this past week have consisted of teaching the kids to sings "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and making origami Christmas trees (which I must add quickly evolve into origami swords...). The kids at NaKae Pitt. have also been preparing for their Christmas Celebration which was held on 23rd December. As well as performances from groups of students (mainly consisting of funny dances and comedy sketches) there were Christmas Card Making Competitions and Signboard competitions (big Merry Christmas signs) and a quiz which Caitlin and I did. We were meant to do two other activities as well, but they didn't go so well... we planned to do a sort of game where we hold up pictures and words to do with Christmas and get the kids to do an action or sound to go with it (Santa Claus - Ho Ho Ho! etc...), but the kids either didn't understand or didn't want to do it because they just refused to do anything! Eventually Kru Nid told us to just leave it and they went on to do their show, and we didn't do the other activity either (which was going to be the 12 Days Of Christmas). It was still lots of fun and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves though!

On Christmas Day, after opening some presents from home, we cycled to Pippa's house. She was in That Phanom buying shiny things to decorate with, so we lazed about in her house until she came back. When she did, she came with a huge bag of tinsel (which we promptly attacked her with) and lots of Christmas lights - then we decorated. Except that really Caitlin and I didn't do a huge amount of decorating... this wasn't because we didn't want to or try, but because most of what we did was re-done by Pippa in a much fancier and prettier way! Turns out she is quite the perfectionist! I am proud to say that I wrapped tinsel round a pole, and it stayed the way I had done it :)


In the evening Caitlin and I both spoke to our families which was really nice. I was a bit worried that it would make me feel homesick, but thankfully it didn't at all. It was great to see them all, and really great to see that they haven't changed a bit - still crazy! Best lines of the evening have got to be:

Me: We gave Pippa a present to do with penguins
(holds up penguin slippers to camera)
Mum: Oh! Is that Shaun The Sheep?

and

Dad (coming quickly into the room, classically calm voice): Naomi love, I would stay and talk but things have gone very wrong in the kitchen. The turkey is cooking too fast and nothing else is, and now I have to find a way to mop oil off the floor without it going slippery...

Gotta love crazy families! While we were talking to our families we opened the rest of the presents with Pippa. I got a beautiful butterfly necklace and an awesomely colourful bracelet from Ailsa (my sister) and her boyfriend, along with a crochetted reindeer (made my Ailsa!), a book of duologues from Caitlin's mum, a book from my mum (one of two books, but the first was opened at the house in the morning) and a packet of mini-marshmallows from my mum too!!

After this we went outside and sat underneath the decorations drinking whiskey with people from the village. It was a really nice, quiet Christmas :) It was really nice and relaxing and totally different to what I'm used to at home. I'll definitely remember it forever!

The Unluckyness of Me

Well the last few days have been interesting to say the least!

Yesterday, after teaching at Na Kae Sa, me and Caitlin got a lift to Pippa's house (which is pretty much our house too now :P). She told us that in the morning before she had been to a temple 4 km away and been told by the Buddha that her future was going to be amazing - she would have happiness and wealth and love, and apparently he knew all about her German boyfriend. She went with three of her friends, and she was the only one who got a good prophecy. After telling us all about it, she asked if we wanted to go and with a little apprehension we agreed. We were both quite nervous because apparently there have been people who have been told that their family will have an accident or something really bad, and it has happened. However, we both tried to push these thoughts to the back of our mind and went for it.

When we got there we had to pay 29 baht, and got given leaves which a Thai woman rubbed on our hands. These were each put on a plate (one plate for me, one for Caitlin) along with a candle and the 29baht, and put in front of the Buddha monk. Caitlin was first, and the monk waved the candle over the leaf and spoke in Thai. Pippa and Mei were there as translators, and Caitlin got a really good prophecy - she got told that her famiy were all well, would do very well in love and that whatever work she did would be good. She was told that she would have a lot of happiness, marry a Thai, which quickly proceeded into "will marry Pippa's brother" and stay in Thailand forever. Pippa and Mei were both really excited because it was such a good prophecy.

Then it was my turn. Now, after the monk had started telling Caitlin's prophecy Pippa and Mei had started squealing saying it was really good. This did not happen with mine - instead they both said "...uuuuh...". I turned round and got told by Pippa that it wasn't good. My prophecy was as follows: I worry all the time, all my friends (Thai people and farang in Thailand and Scotland) hate me and are jealous of me, if I do anything bad everyone will gossip about me, my parents do not understand each other, many Thai men love me but only because they think I'm pretty and white, they don't actually care about me and it's not good (Pippa said basically they want me for sex, not to care for). However, I am to stay in Thailand forever, marry a Thai and will have a very good future.

To "give myself lucky" and have this good future there are things I must do. Today we went back to the temple, and I was given a bucket of holy water to shower in. I also had to drink from it three times - it tasted a bit like flowers. Afterwards I got given another blessing bracelet from the monk, and got given a Buddha. I also got all my old silk ribbons torn off :( But I got to keep them :)

Home with us came a second bucket of holy water and the instructions to shower in it at 4pm, so I did that at Pippa's. I have to do it again tomorrow, so Pippa's going to go to the temple and get me some more holy water. After that I should have all my unlucky removed!

Bangkok Road Trip!!!!

Lets go on a ROAD TRIP!!

^ This was what went through me and Caitlin's head simultaneously when we found out that a) this Monday was a school holiday and b) my mum's friend Ian was happy to let us stay with him whenever we were in Bangkok. All 18 of us Thailanders have been thinking about going to see Harry Potter as a group, but as me and Caitlin teach on Saturdays we cant go on a normal weekend because we can't miss our Saturday classes. Made sense to "plan" a road trip! Although it wasn't really planned because we decided last Thursday (2nd December) to leave on Saturday (4th December).

Coincidentally Pippa was going to Bangkok to so we all went together. The journey down was brilliant - Pippa is one of those people that knows everyone, so Caitlin, her and I sat in the drivers cabin at the front. It was so much fun, but a bit scary because Thai driving really is quite crazy! None of us got much sleep - Caitlin went to sleep in the main part of the bus at about midnight and I went at about 2am. Pippa didn't sleep at all.

When we arrived in Bangkok we were greeted by Ian who took Pippa to her brother's house and us to his house, where we slept until about 10am. We then headed to the cinema to see about going to see Harry Potter, and booked seats for the 3pm showing at Paragon. With about 3 hours to spare we went to the food court and ate some amazing Japanese food - everything was so good!! The film was brilliant - and the cinema was amazing!! We got huge armchairs and blankets and pillows and a drink before the film! Afterwards we met up with Pippa and her brother Non for a few drinks, and didn't actually get home until about 2am...

The next day we woke up at the early hour of about 2pm... and went to Marks and Spencers to buy Christmas biscuits!! Money well spend I say, we bought loads of lovely things including Ginger Snaps which I am probably too excited about! We then went to Tawang Deng German Farang bar/brewery where there were loads of performances like a cabaret - it was brilliant and the acts were all really good! Definitely like to go there again sometime!

The next day we went across the river on a boat to an Italian restaurant which was really nice, was nice to eat some Indian food! We then went to the bus station and met with Pippa around 5.30pm to get the bus back to Na Kae.

It was a brilliant trip!

I'd like to add that I have never seen so many fish on a bus before. Actually I've never seen any I don't think! You know how on long distance buses there are compartments for big luggage? Well, on our bus there were compartments for luggage, and a compartment dedicated solely to Pippa's fish. She buys and sells beautiful fish, and had loads of huge bags of them!

The coming week at school we have sports day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday which should be fun, and on Thursday there is a ceremony for sports day at the school and we've been told that we'll have to get up at about 4am to get all dressed up for it!

Nick, Rachel and the Cruelness of Pippa!

I'm getting better at updating this more regularly, hopefully it will continue!

On Monday 29th November me and Caitlin had our desk officers from Coll visit our project. Nick (main Thailand DO) and Rachel (new Assistant DO). It was great to see Nick again after training, and also great to meet Rachel - she is new at Project Trust and is starting as the assistant desk officer for Thailand.

They arrived at about 11am and came to observe part of our lessons - they watched the first part of Caitlin's lesson and last part of mine, which meant that they got to see some very excitable kids going crazy in my class! I'm doing body parts with them, and for the last bit of the lesson I have them all come outside in groups, pick one person from each group to stand against a wall, and the rest of the group have to stick arrows with body parts written on them pointing at the right place on the person. First team to finish and sit down gets stickers! Unfortunately I don't think the other teachers in the corridor are too pleased to have 30 noisy kids outside, but it's only for a week and my kids seem to enjoy it!

After school we took them both to see our house which they loved (we really do have one of, if not the, best house in Thailand) and then to meet Pippa (more about her later...). We then went to That Phanom. We visited Prathat Phanom, one of the seven pagodas which is beautiful, and then went to the market. This proved to be a mistake as I spend 150 baat on a top, but it is gorgeous and I love love love it and will wear it loads, so really it's an investment...

After this we headed back to our house, dropping Nick and Rachel off at their accommodation on the way. They were staying in a really nice little resort in tiny houses - they were really cute!

Yesterday we took Nick and Rachel to visit St. Josephs Primary School because they wanted to see what the school was like (I don't think Ruth and Laura taught there last year), then at about 10.30am they disappeared off to the next project. It was really good to see them, and they brought chocolate and blu-tack which was a huge bonus!!

Now, onto the cruelness of Pippa. The other night, me and Caitlin went to Lou Ang and Pee Baby's house to help them cook (Lou Ang is the PE teacher and Pee Baby is his wife). We were cooking quite a big meal because a few people were coming over, including Pippa. We phoned her to ask what time she'd be there, and she said she'd be there soon. About half an hour later I got a phone call from her - she said that she wasn't coming because she was going to Bangkok!!! She said that she was on the bus, and that she'd be staying there for 3 months because she missed Non (her brother) so much. At first I thought I misunderstood what she was saying, but when she spoke to Caitlin she said exactly the same. She said that she wanted us to go outside and wave as the bus went past (it goes past Lou Ang's house, it's all one massive, long, straight road). Eventually she convinced us that she was leaving without properly saying goodbye, and that we wouldn't see her for at least 3 months. She is our best friend and sister in Thailand, we both love her to bits, and were both absolutely gutted - I was in tears and Caitlin nearly was, but we pulled ourselves together and went out to wave. As we made our way down the drive, a Pippa was making her way towards us, killing herself laughing.

Turns out that yes, she had been on the Bangkok bus... but she was on it to get a lift to Lou Ang's house!!!!!! She saw an opportunity to have some "lawlen" (banter) and grabbed it with both hands! It was actually hilarious and we were all in stitches about it, but at the time me and Caitlin genuinely thought she was leaving!! She really has a wicked sense of humour :P

After we had eaten we went out to a karaoke bar which was fun, Thai's are obsessed with karaoke!

She is actually going to Bangkok today, but only for 1 day to visit the German Embassy. Hopefully she's feeling okay - we stayed with her last night and she really wasn't feeling well, she had a really bad migraine and sore back. She must have felt pretty bad because when Butschi skyped her she admitted that she was ill and went to bed which is very unlike Pippa!!

This month's missings

Wow, the time has come for another post of things I've missed! Seriously doesn't feel like a month has passed since the last one.

Here goes!

Family
Friends
Cats
Firehawk
Iced Gems
Ben and Jerry's baked Alaska
Being able to sit without making my legs die
Cheesecake (made by my mother!)
Dogs that don't hunt you down for your meat
MY JEANS FITTING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
60kg not being fat
My mum doing things for me :P
Chatting with Ailsa
Moaning at dad for going out in clothes with holes
Moaning at dad for going out in clothes with workshop stains
Moaning at dad for losing things
Moaning at dad for being grumpy
Moaning at dad for trying to disguise some piece of weird food
Moaning at dad for being messy
Moaning at dad for forgetting how to do something on the computer

Wow dad, you've got a lot of getting moaned at to catch up on next year ;)

Ban Pippa!

Ban Pippa!!!

I think that Caitlin and I should move all our things to Ban Pippa! We are spending another night there - this will be the 5th night in a row, and only 2 days last week (I think) were spent at our own house! Love it!


We were going to just be here for the weekend for Loy Kratong, but we had an emergency trip here on Friday night - there was some drama with the German and chocolate was necessary, but all is good now! After staying for the weekend we just sort of... didn't leave. Either Pippa or her brother (who has been here for the past couple of days) gives us a lift to Nakae in the morning, or we cycle early which is actually quite fun!

Loy Kratong was great fun - while some of the other volunteers had to get up at 3am to get hair and makeup done to be part of a parade, me, Caitlin and Pippa had a lovely lazy day and got up at about 10am. After lazily getting dressed we went to Wat That Phanom at about 12pm for an hour or so, and then back to Ban Pippa. Wat That Phanom is really pretty, it's one of the seven pagodas that represent the seven days of the week.

The winner of the Kratong-making-contest - just for show, it doesn't actually float :(

For the afternoon we went to the lake in the village (the village is called Ban Phon Sanuk - translates as Enjoy/Fun Hill!!) and met with Tomtom and his mum, Khwan and some other people from the village and relaxed. It was really pretty there, and it was great to just chill with everyone with the help of Whisky and Pepsi! We didn't have much though, don't worry!

Khwan next to the lake

Me and Caitlin with Non (Pippa's brother)

In the evening we went back to That Phanom to float our kratong in the Mekong. Me and Caitlin had made stunning kratongs at St. Joseph primary school, but they didn't survive the bike ride to Pippa's too well, and sort of went a bit crispy in the night so we floated the one that Pippa and her brother bought instead. When we got to That Phanom there were huge fireworks going off - they were really beautiful! The firework setting on my camera looks like it could have been quite good, if only I had aimed properly! Instead of lovely big fireworks, I have the wiggly remains of dying ones... We also floated a lantern which was really fun, took a couple of times to get it to keep floating, but we got it going and it disappeared up into the sky nicely! Then it was time to float our (Pippa and Non's) kratong!! We all put a tissue with a small bit of hair and nail clippings wrapped up in it into it before we made our way down to the river. It was quite difficult to get down to the river because it was really steep. I thought I was getting down the slope alright, until Pippa called from behind me becauise she wanted a hand and I realised that although I was getting down quite well, stopping was going to prove difficult. I managed it though and we all got down safely. Getting up was much easier thankfully!

Our Kratong!

We got back to Pippa's at about 11pm-ish and takled to Butschi (Pippa's German) over skype before going to bed.

The last few days have been spent relaxing at Pippa's after school! We should really be planning lessons, but that's much less fun :)

Teaching

Pippa learning English!
Wow last week seems to have gone in a blur!
Me and Caitlin have been properly teaching for a couple of weeks now and although my classes are not saints by anyone's standards, it hasn't gone badly! Last week I started off with the topic of Occupations, and one of the first things I noticed is how the ability of the kids vary. Each year has 5 or 6 classes which are grouped by ability, but it is general ability, not ability in each class. So my class 3/1 has some kids who are fantastic at English, but others who are awful at it and are fantastic at maths or music instead. It does make teaching the classes more difficult because while some kids are really enthusiastic, others sit at the back and obviously don't care about what you're trying to teach them - it's a challenge to get all the kids to take part in the lesson, but it's not a bad challenge and I'm looking forward to trying different things to try and get them involved and enjoying class.

I've been finding that my Matthayom 3s (age 14 - 15) are often worse behaved than my Matthayom 1s and 2s, and today found out why! Apparently kids can leave school after M3, so a lot of the time the kids who have decided they're going to leave after M3 don't care about school so don't try. M1 and M2 are only just past the cute primary school stage so are more pliable!

I missed quite a lot of my lessons over the last couple of weeks - last week we went into Nakhon Phanom to sort out work permits and visas etc., and missed a while day of lessons (we just had to go to Tescos to get cake mix too of course!), and the week before that on Monday morning we met with some of the teachers from St. Josephs Catholic Primary School where we are going to teach every Friday, on Tuesday morning we went with Pee Fah to the hospital to get a note saying we were healthy enough to get our visa extended (took blood pressure, weight and height - a very thorough check I thought!). On Wednesday we spend the day in Nakhon Phanom getting something with our visa done, then went to the temple (3rd time for me, first for Caitlin!). It was really nice, we spend the day with one of the English teachers from NaKae Pitt. and he bought us a huge lunch and ice cream - it was really sweet of him! However, missing this many lessons last week meant that so far this week it's been a bit of a rush to try and all of my classes at roughly the same point (continuing with occupations this week), but so far I think it's been successful!

We are only teaching the older kids at the primary school - Lucie (our Thailand Rep) phoned us to ask how it was going and when we told her that we were teaching the younger primary kids she said that we should ask to teach only the older ones, because it will be more beneficial to both the children and us. We also felt that we don't know enough Thai to teach the younger kids - we observed some lessons, and the teachers had to use a lot of Thai to explain what they had to do, and it would be extremely difficult to try to control the class while explaining something they don't understand, especially the nursery kids who we were originally going to be teaching! The older kids are absolutely lovely, their English is fantastic though!

We got a rice cooker from someone at school and a huge bag of rice to go with it which is fantastic! Means we don't have to spend as much money on rice, so we can buy more shiny things instead! :) Caitlin was quick to begin the process of destroying it though... We also borrowed an electric pan from the school, and she used the rice cooker's PLASTIC spatula in it... This was what happened:

I'm still unsure how she managed to not notice such a huge amount of spatula melting into her pan, but she's special :)

We were at our friend Pippa's house a couple of nights ago, and decided to have a night where none of us was allowed to use the translator!! The idea was that she would learn more English and we would learn more Thai. It was actually loads of fun, but I have a feeling that Pippa was one of those pupils that played up a lot...!

We asked her to write in English... Her response was "Thai, English SAME SAME!"

We asked her some questions...

It was hilarious!! Not sure how much she learned though...

Dancing and Making Merit!

Wow Thai people can make anything and everything into a party! Literally!!

Last Saturday Caitlin and I (better grammer mother dearest??? :P) went to stay with Pippa (who actually has many names, Pbaa, Panfah, Panjai, Panun, and Chartirut... hard to keep up!) who lives in the village about 8km away from Na Kae, and found out that there was a celebration at the village that weekend to give merit to the Monks. We thought it was going to be pretty boring and formal, but then we remembered that we're in Thailand! Pippa took us to a party opposite her house where there was karaoke and dancing for hours! It is brilliant fun, and yes, I did sing. But I sang with Caitlin so it wasn't just on my own. We sang Zombie by The Cranberries because it is one of the only English songs that has made its way to Thailand, and it was loads of fun! Hopefully the listeners enjoyed it too...!

We met a lovely little girl called Print who kept dancing with us and was absolutely adorable - despite the fact that she took great pleasure in calling me and Caitlin "Ouan! Ouan! Ouan!" which means "fat" in Thai!

We all had loads of fun, and many many photos were taken (mainly on Caitlin's camera) because someone got hold of her camera and it got passed round all night with people taking photos which was brilliant! Some of the photos are not as flattering as they could be though...

Pippa, me and Caitlin

We got back to Pippa's house at about 11pm, and after chatting and laughing for a while finally went to bed at about midnight, trying to forget about the fact that we had to get up at 6am! We would have had to get up at 4am but we politely declined the offer to get up and cook - we'll cook another time when we're awake enough not to accidentally poison someone...

The next morning at about 6.30am we made our way back to where the party was to give merit to the Monks and then start walking up to the temple (it's just a small one at the back of the lae behind our host mother's house). Well, we thought we'd be walking, but again, we then remembered that we're in Thailand. We danced to the temple instead! And with us came a van with a band playing in the back of it, a huge model horse and a huge model elephant!!

After praying at the temple (and getting 1B coins and sweets thrown at us - it hurts if you're not paying attention!) we went back, and me, Caitlin and Pippa got to ride in the van with the band! Tomtom was playing the tambourine :) It was loads of fun but a bit bumpy, and mega loud because I was right infront of the speaker!

Caitlin, Pippa, Print, me and Pee Ann

It was a really fun weekend, if a little tiring! I want to know what they did with the giant elephant because I want to take it home! Might be a tad difficult to get it on the plane though...

Finally back in Na Kae!

Wheew! Finally after much fuss I am back in Na Kae with Caitlin!

Everything was sorted and ready for me and Caitlin to come, then there was a big fuss created by Mae Sai and me and Caitlin were going to have to stay there, then there was more fussing and now finally we're back in Na Kae! Hannah and Katie are moving to Lampang instead of Mae Sai, but they both seem happy about it so all is good!

We both start teaching again tomorrow, a bit nervous because now we're into proper lessons - I can't just get them to make name cards, I have to actually teach!! I'm not actually too nervous though, I have my trusty lesson plan and flashcards all made up and ready so hopefully my lessons will follow it!

Me and Caitlin got taken to a canoe race yesterday which was fun, there was a big market there too but neither of us brought money - probably a good thing because if we'd had money we would have bought stuff!

Me met a guy called Tay who was friends with the last two volunteers, and on Saturday we're going off to Sakhon Nakhon to see him and his friends and staying there for the weekend which should be fun, beither of us have been to Sakhon Nakhon (except to wait at the bus station for 2 hours at 4.30am...) so it'll be good to have a look around.

This month's missings

Wow, 3 posts in 1 day isn't bad!! It's after the 25th of October and even though it seems like only a few days ago that I posted the last one of these, it's time for me to note down everything I've missed this month.

Mum
Dad
Ailsa
Alan
Caroline
Cheese!!!!
Cheesecake
Cake in general (Thai cake is still a bit odd)
Marmite
Bovril
Ice Cream that doesn't cost a fortune
My Wicked stuff (call it a shrine if you will...)
Tormenting Alan with Defying Gravity (still whistling it in the shower are we?)
Fruit Juice
Sandwiches!!!!
Free internet (although that's actually a good thing because it means I don't spend forever online!)
The Polish Healthy Foods Shop I pass on the bus on the way into Dundee (it's a weird thing to miss I know, don't ask me why!)
The smell of new clothes (the clothes at the market don't have the same smell)

Partner Swap!!

Just a quick update to say that I am swapping partners! I'll be staying in Na Kae, but Hannah is swapping with a girl called Caitlin, and we'll be travelling down in Na Kae in the next couple of days.

Me, Hannah, Caitlin and her partner Katie all felt that we would get on better in our projects with te other person's partner, and after contacting project trust and our reps in Thailand, eventually they agreed and let us swap.

I can't wait to get to Na Kae and show Caitlin around everywhere, and it'll be great introducing her to the crazy people of Na Kae!

Me and Caitlin!

Chiang Mai and trekking!

Wow, the last three weeks have flown by!!

I can't believe it's already been two months since I left Scotland.

The language course in Chiang Mai was really good, and I feel much more confident speaking to people in Thai now. I still haven't mastered the tones, so I have to be careful that I'm saying the right thing, but I think I'm getting there! On the last day of the course we had a small exam, and everyone passed with really high marks which is good - and we all got a pretty certificate!

As I mentioned in the last blog post, we went on a 2 day trek in the jungle over the second weekend in Chiang Mai, and it was absolutely phenominal!!

On the first day we got picked up at 9am and driven to a small clearing to have lunch (veggie fried rice!), and then we started the trek. After walking for about an hour we came to a huge waterfall which was beautiful. We all got changed into our swimming costumes and started exploring! It was actually quite cold at first, but after you'd been in for a few minuted it didn't feel cold at all. We got to go behind the waterfall, and a few of us - me included - decided to go underneath the waterfall to get out instead of going the easy way. It was so fun, but felt really weird! It was a bit like those waterfalls you get in some swimming pools, but much, much heavier!

Afterwards we walked for another 2 hours to what Rambo (our guide) called the village swimming pool - a big lake-type thing with a rapid slide!! It was so much fun. The slide was literally a lot of rapids, and at first Rambo said it was too dangerous for us to go down but we convinced him otherwise. This was definitely my favourite part of the trek, I've always wanted to swim in a pool like it and the rapid slide was like the one you'd see in a film and think "wow, I wish I could go somewhere like that!".

We then went on to the village that we stayed the night in and had dinner - curried potato, chicken and rice - it was delicious! I hadn't realised how long it was since I'd eaten potato! Donna, you would not survive here! :P Rambo built a campfire and we all sat round it and chatted for a bit, and played some of those "remove 2 matchsticks to create a..." games. Ther were really hard! I think we all went to bed pretty early, but the people in our cabin were kept awake by dogs coming in and out and fighting and howling and sleeping next to us all night! We had mosquito nets so they didn't sleep right next to us, but I woke up with a pretty large dog sleeping slumped against my leg. But there was also a cute little black kitten that made up for it :)

The next day, we went elephant riding, which I think was one of the scariest things I've ever done! About 5 minutes into the trek, a stray dog approached the baby elephant that was tagging along with us, and it's mother (with Hannah Jelley and Clara on it's back) went crazy and tryed to charge at it, shrieking. It's trainer tried to calm it down, but it started to back into the other elephants, and then Clem and Rosie's elephant started to join in by also going crazy. Luckily the elephant me and Caitlin were on was a bit further behind and didn't really seem to understand what was going on. The elephants eventually calmed down but it left everyone a bit shaken. Near the end of the elephant ride, we went down quite a steep hill and realised that our elephant (who we named Tusky) plods very hard. I thought I was going to fall off a number of times! All in all it was fun, but I don't think I'd do it again for a while! We then went to another waterfall pool, which was really fun. Although, me, Chess and Cameron did lose our grip on the wall trying to swim against the current and had to be rescued by a bamboo stick... Rambo is quick as lightening though!

After this, we went canoing which was insane! I was in a boat with Billie and Caitlin, and we hit nearly every tree that was hanging over the water. We found out quite quickly that large spiders like to live in trees, and when you smash in to them you get covered in very confused jumpy spiders...

Finally, we went bamboo ranfting which was loads of fun. It was good to have a guide doing all the work while you sat on a raft and watched the world go by!

It was a fantastic weekend and I have loads of photos to put up, which I will add to this post and to facebook in the next few days, I forgot to bring my card reader to Chiang Mai!

The last week of the language course has been a bit of a blur it's gone so fast, but we did go to a museum on the last day which was nice. Our tour guide was a ladyboy, and her English was flawless! It's unnerves me a but when a Thai person's English is better than mine... :P

Chiang Mai

So, we're all in Chiang Mai for the Thai language course (minus two of the original 20 who have already gone home :(), and so far it's been great! We've been here for a week (arrived on the 2nd), and we're here until the 23rd.

So far the course is going well, although I think it's fair to say that I'm not the most natural linguist among us! Ah well, any Thai is good Thai, and I'm getting through the lessons alright, it's just remembering what we've learned the days before that's hard!

The markets here are AMAZING, so many times I've had to say to myself "Naomi, do you really NEED a lantern?" to stop myself from buying everything I see... and there are so many, there is a huge Night Bazaar on every night, plus a Saturday Walking Market and a Sunday Walking Market which are both enormous.

It's so great to see everyone again - we all went out on Friday night for Cameron's birthday which was brilliant fun, and we went to Doi Suthep temple today which is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery, so I had to hi-jack Caitlin's. I forgot to take my battery charger with me to Chiang Mai, so I'll have to buy some more somewhere. I've been so organised up until now!

Next weekend we are all going on a 2 day trek which should be brilliant - we get driven about an hour away, and have lunch at a waterfall pool where we get to swim, we do a 3 hour trek, ride elephants, build rafts and do canoeing, plus we spend the night in a hill tribe village. Can't wait!

This Months Missings

Okay, so I've decided that around the 25th of each month I'm going to blog a list of things I've missed during the month, so I can see how they change throughout the year. Just for fun really!

So in September I have missed:

Mum

Dad

Ailsa

Alan

Noddy, Domino, Polly, Bitsa, Butch, Jasper.

Caroline

Tom and Jerry

Red Dward

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (Baked Alaska to be specific!)

Being cold

Cereal

Tea

Playing games/watching TV with Ailsa/Alan

Project Happenings!

Aah it's been a while since I posted, oops! The internet connection here isn't great so I have to use an internet cafe nearby.

I am now in my project up in Na Kae, and it is beautiful! Everyone is unbelievably nice and friendly, and they have all been really welcoming. My host family are lovely, I stayed with them for the first 2 weeks and now I'm living in a house with just my partner. It's great to be in out own house, but it's a few miles from our host families house so we don't get to see the friends we made there as often as we did. We can still cycle there though! Cycling for 40 minutes uphill in a monsoon is actually quite fun!

The school we're at is really nice, quite small so it's easy to find our way around which is good. It's a secondar school, but I think we'll be teaching at the primary school after the language course in Chiang Mai. The pupils are really cute, but I must say they are a lot cuter when they're outside the classroom. When you have a room of 30 15 year olds, they ain't so cute...!

We've been paraded everywhere, and been to a couple of temples which are beautiful. We also made merit by giving food to the monks in the morning a couple of times, which although it was all in Thai was a really good experience. I'll try to upload some photos to go with posts soon!!

I think on Friday we are judging a spelling bee competition in one of the nearby towns, so that should be interesting.

Off to the language course in a couple of weeks and I'm really looking forward to that, it'll be brilliant to be with all the volunteers again, and of course to learn Thai will be exciting!

Nakaepitthayakhom School!

It Starts!

So, finally I'm in Thailand!

Been in Bangkok for the past couple of days which has been brilliant, went to the big shopping centre MBK and also to a night market - it took so much strength not to buy everything I saw! Wait for Chiang Mai markets... wait for Chiang Mai markets...

We all leave for our projects today, me and my partner Hannah will be going on a night bus this evening and arriving tomorrow morning. I'm kind of nervous about meeting my hosts, but I've been told that they are lovely and that everyone in the villiage is really friendly and helpful, so it should be alright.

Missing home, but that's normal. When I get to the project and start getting involved in things it'll be fine.

The dates of the language course aren't the same as what we were told on Coll, we actually have about a week with our host family, then we move into our own accomodation and start teaching, then at the start of October we have our language course. Can't wait for it!

GOODBYE SCOTLAND!!

AAAAAH! My leaving date is finally here!! Tomorrow evening I'll be getting on an aeroplane and saying goodbye to the UK for a year!

I'm all packed, everything is in the right place (everything I've remembered anyway...) and I think I'm all set!

I can't believe it's come to fast, feels like only last week I was on my selection course, but it's really happening and I'm really going!

I'll be updating this when I can with news about how I'm getting on, and hopefully some photos too :)

Thailand here I come!!

Training

A little late with this one but better late than never I guess!

Had my week of training with Project Trust at the end of July, and enjoyed it immensely! It was a really intense week, and teaching a 20 minute English lesson in front of people who you know already know English is more daunting that I thought it would be, but it actually went really well.

We learned all about Thailand and certain aspects of the culture, what not to do, what to do if you get ill etc. but it was a really fun week as well. I met my partner, who was actually on the same selection course as me, and I'm really looking forward to going now.

Despite it being an incredibly intense week, it was really reassuring to have everyone there and to know that we're all worrying about the same things.

11 DAYS!

New Leaving Date!

Hmm, turns out I'm leaving on the 25th August not the 22nd! Which actually makes a lot more sense because I arrive on the 26th, and I doubt the flight takes 4 days!

Leaving Date

Got my leaving date through - I should be going on the 22nd August if all goes to plan! Earlier than expected, but can't wait!

Training course in a couple of weeks.

Placement

Finally got my placement through from Project Trust!

If all goes well I should be going to a small rural village called "Na Kae" in the North of Thailand (almost in Laos actually!). It's between Nahkon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon, in a region called Isan.

I'll be employed by the local council to work in 2 or 3 schools instead of just 1, and I'll also be able to teach extracurricular activities and to become involved with English camps. I'll be helping fellow teachers with their English too, and to teach in extra conversational classes for adults.

My accommodation will be a wooden house which was once a Thai family home which I'll share with my partner.

All of this sounds fantastic, but there is a chance I won't be going to Thailand at all if the situation there doesn't improve (which it doesn't seem to be doing), and so my placement could be changed to Malaysia, China or Indonesia.

Fantastic News!!

The Charity Shop ended on Saturday, and it was brilliant! People were so supportive and the shop was kept busy over the whole week, which was great. We raised a total of £765, including the money raised from a raffle that week, and that means that I have now raised all the money I need!!

I'm so happy that I've actually made it to the £4,850 - I remember right at the start thinking that I wouldn't be able to manage even £1,000!

I'll be getting my placement letter within the next couple of weeks hopefully, which will tell me exactly where I'll be staying and what my project is, and I can't wait for that. I'll also be attending my Training Course on the Isle of Coll at the end of July which should be brilliant. I loved being on Coll last October, so now that it's summer it should be even better!! I'll keep this updated with information about my placement and training.

Chariy Shop!

Well the Charity Shop is open, and so far it's been great!! The site I have at 3 Little Roods is fantastic as loads of people pass it and have a look, and it's been pretty busy. Still got the rest of the week to go, so lets hope it stays like this!

On Friday I was also selling raffle tickets at the co-op, and they are on sale in the charity shop too, which was also successful!

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated items for the charity shop!

Also had a small article in the Courier today with a photo of me covered in soft toys from the shop which was actually quite fun!

Good and Bad News

Well the bad news is that the Can't Cook, Won't Cook fundraiser had to be cancelled because not enough people bought tickets, which is a shame because I think it could have been a really fun event.

The good news is that after putting leaflets in literally hundreds of newspapers at 5.45am about the charity shop I'm running at the end of April I've already had some donations of jewellery, clothes and books, and a few people have said that they are clearing out cupboards at the moment and will get back to me so that's great! I've also had another donation of £100 from a trust and a phone call from another trust saying that they would like to donate and are discussing it, so everything is looking up!

More good news!!

I've had an amazing donation of £1,200 from another charitable trust, so a HUGE thank you to them!! It's a fantastic boost and has made a huge difference.

I think that most things are sorted for my Can't Cook, Won't Cook - I've got the teams down, booking confirmed for Northmuir Hall, so just to sell tickets now! I'll be really advertising next week, going to try and get in some publications at the school to get people interested. Time goes by so fast when there's things to do...

Thank you!!

The interview in the Herald was really good, I was happy with it and the photo wasn't too bad!

I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has donated after reading the article - it really means so much to me to have people's support!

I'm right this minute creating (or trying to) the posters for my Can't Cook, Won't Cook fundraiser, so should have those done pretty soon if the computer will play nicely!

Donation and Interview!

Got another £100 from a Charitable Trust, thank you! Very grateful. Also, the article for the Kirrie Herald will be in Inspire (the Herald supplement) on Wednesday! It won't just be in the Kirrie Herald, but it'll be in the Forfar Dispatch too along with other newspapers all over the place, so that's great! I'll get a lot of coverage from it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the photo that they're using, so if it's awful then it's everywhere and there's no hiding from it!! Lets hope it's good!

Still all going well!!

I had another interview, this time with the Kirrie Herald. They also said that they wanted to do an article in a magazine called Inspire which should be good.

I am in the process of getting teams sorted out for the Can't Cook, Won't Cook - I'm thinking of doing it in a Teachers VS Pupils style, and already a couple of teachers have said that they'd be willing to do it, so that'll be fun!

All going well!

I am 99% sure that the Can't Cook Won't Cook fundraiser will be on 19th March, I just need to confirm booking Northmuir Hall next week and then it's all good!! I need to think of some clever ways to advertise it, if anyone has any ideas then let me know! naomiweir2010@gmail.com

I have also confirmed that I'll be renting out a shop for a week to try and sell any unwanted items that we have and that we get donated to us, but it won't be in Coupar Angus as there would be no way for us to stay there, and it's too far to travel to and from every day (especially with no car!). The dates for this are April 17th to April 24th, and I'll be advertising it and asking for donations nearer the time!!

My interview with the Courier went well, but unfortunately there was a bit of a mix up. The photographer came but the reporter couldn't, so I did the photos and then had an over-the-phone interview with the reporters co-worker. However, the co-worker didn't know that there were any photos, so it got put in without any photos, meaning that it's pretty hard to notice in the paper! I'll be contacting the Kirrie Herald though and trying to get an article with them. I've also been asked by the reporter for the Courier to let them know if I'm doing any events and they can advertise them in the paper to keep people's interest up.

Courier Interview and Trusts!

I've got an interview with the Courier tomorrow which should be a great way to get some more publicity! Not really looking forward to the photo though - lets hope they get me on a good day!

I've also had two more positive responses from Charitable Trusts which is fantastic - a huge thanks to them both!

I'm in the process of organising two more events - a "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" fundraiser and a Charity Shop in Coupar Angus (hopefully!), so let's hope they go well!