Project Day

Last week, my school, along with the Chonburi Institute of Technology, held a two-day event called Project Day.  Students from both institutions set up booths, performed skits and dances, made food and crafts, and had an all-around good time at this end-of-school term bash.  Below is a 10-minute video I filmed on the second day; nothing too crazy but there are some funny interactions with students if you have some time to kill.

 

My MEP (Mini English Program) class performed the song 'Wheels on the Bus', and I was in charge of getting them ready for the event.  I added some dialogue about going to a birthday party so that the kids could practice their speaking skills.  I wasn't able to film their actual performance because I was too busy making sure that everything was okay with the music, but here's a clip I took of their practicing in the classroom.  Ignore my singing.

Another fun clip- impromptu jam sesh with a few of my high school students

Project Day was a huge success, and the students really went all out in preparing and performing.  One thing that I've learned from being here is that Thai people know how to do it up right; every holiday and/or school event is perfect down to the very last detail, and seeing that dedication has been one of the most incredible parts of my teaching experience.  I see that quality carried over in other parts of Thai culture as well; one can only imagine what a Thai wedding is like!

Last weekend, twelve of us headed to Khao Yai National Park.  I had been wanting to go to Khao Yai for several weeks, as it seems to be a regular stop on the English teacher travel circuit.  My camping experience is minimal, so this weekend was a nice change of scenery and turned out to be really fun.

Setting up camp

The whole crew sitting around an imaginary campfire

We got up at 5:00 to drive to a lookout point to see the sunrise

All of us at the lookout point- cold and tired

Driving around the park in the back of a songtheau

 

There were animals everywhere, including deer, porcupines, and millions of monkeys!  One monkey even charged our group and pretty much took a bag of chips out of my friend's hand.  Yikes!

We hiked to a waterfall (which was pretty mediocre after seeing beautiful waterfalls a few weeks earlier in Kanchanaburi), and were supposed to see a cave filled with bats but never got around to it (can't say that I was sorry about that one).  All in all, a good weekend....dare I say that I enjoyed camping?!

Well, school is over next week and right now, I'm busy writing student reviews for my younger kids (my special language/elementary school students).  My high school students are currently taking their exams, and in a day or two, I'll have approximately 315 finals to mark and grades to compute.  Fun, fun!  As much as I've joked about the negative points of my teaching experience, it's hard to believe that it's all coming to an end.  I really have developed a bond with a good portion of the students (particularly the younger ones, but some high school ones too), and I think I will be sad when it's all over.  Hopefully, two weeks of island hopping in the south of Thailand will ease the pain....I have a feeling it will!  Until next time...Sawatdee kah!