Koh Samet

We had this Monday and Tuesday off and we decided to have a roommate bonding trip :) Me, Laurelle, Lisa, and Jill all took off on Saturday morning for the lovely island of Koh Samet. In all our excitement, we stayed up well past midnight on Friday, but we were up and ready to go by 8 (only an hour behind schedule!). We had our coffee, snacks, and luggage in hand and hopped in a taxi to take us to the bus station.
It only cost about $10 for a round trip bus ticket and ferry ride to the island, a pretty sweet deal! It took about 4 hours to get there, and we were soooo ready for the beach!




We hopped in a song tow (a truck with benches in the back) and took off for our bungalow, which only cost about $15 a night. It was very quaint and set back from all of the noise and excitement of the main beach, which was nice for quiet, but not so great when it came to getting to the beach, although the walks turned out to be quite nice.



We spent our days swimming in the water and relaxing on the beach. Unfortunately this is the rainy season, so our afternoons on Sunday and Monday were rained out and we were pretty bummed, but we still got to enjoy some sun (proof on my back... it's a bit red!).
We found some awesome restaurants and met some really cool locals and travelers. We also got massages on the beach :)









Every night after dinner there are fire shows up and down the beach. They are quite impressive. We had front row seats and watched as a man and his sons (we assumed) put on quite a show. One of them was a trainee, he couldn't have been more than 3!
They were so cute and very talented, quick to show off their moves!

Amazing Fire Baby from Elizabeth Dawson on Vimeo.

Fire Twirlers from Elizabeth Dawson on Vimeo.

We went to bed early on Saturday to the shock of our bungalow owner (it was only 10!!), but we made up for it the next night by staying out quite late. It was a full moon, and there were dance parties all up and down the beach with black lights and fun paint. We got pulled into a massive game of tug-of-war and danced the night away under the full moon (which you really couldn't see because it was cloudy, but we had fun anyways).







Monday morning we got in some beach time before the downpour began. Finally we decided to brave the rain, much to the locals entertainment, and made our way back to the pier to go home. We were soaked and cold, and although we had a fantastic time, we were ready to go home. It's so nice to have that feeling of home here now.


I can't wait to show this place to anyone who comes to visit! It's so close to Bangkok that it would be a wonderful weekend trip!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life Fer Me!

Untitled from Elizabeth Dawson on Vimeo.

This weekend was very full of activities! We had an overnight camp for grades 1-4 at the school on Friday night. We do it because a.) It's a lot of fun, for us and the kids, and b.) There are boy-scout type standards that have to be met. In Thai schools they have adventure type classes that meet them. Here we just have a fun-filled weekend of team-building activities and learning activities that meet the goals for us.
We surprised the kids with a Pirate theme. All of the teachers dressed up as pirates and we did some pirate-themed activities like rope-tying and making eye patches and bandannas. It's amazing what kind of costume you can come up with using just the random things you have lying around!



They also had an activity where they had to build a tent. The fun part came when they were all under it and we tested them out to see if they could withstand the forces of nature. Mr. Ben used a giant mat to create the "wind" and the we used a hose to create the "rain". I have to say my students passed with flying colors :)





After all the activities we had a huge bonfire and cooked hotdogs and smores (carefully of course!). Then we had the biggest dance party you have ever seen. It was quite fantastic. We were all drenched with sweat at this point and near exhaustion, but it was sooooo much fun to just get to have fun with the kids and not be in a classroom setting.

Dance Party from Elizabeth Dawson on Vimeo.

After the bonfire we retired to our rooms. Jill, my co-teacher, and I slept with the 3rd and 4th grade girls. We probably had at least 25 girls! They talked and talked into the night. The last ones drifted off around midnight. Then of course we had many who needed to get up in the night to use the restroom. THEN they woke up at 6:00 am! I was a bit shocked and quite disappointed. Breakfast wasn't until 8 so we had 2 hours to kill. We threw on a movie, but I wasn't able to get back to sleep. We had another several hours worth of activities, which weren't quite as fun because the kids were quite cranky from the heat and lack of sleep, but we made it through. By 12 they kids were gone and I made it to my bed. I decided to sleep until I woke up, which ended up being about 6:30, and only because my roommate called my cell phone :P I wasn't too productive, but it was so nice to rest!

After 2 weekends of busy activities, I'm ready for a break! I have this week of school, and then a 4 day weekend :) Today was amazingly incredible and tons of fun, but that blog will have to wait for another day... I have lesson plans to make and sleep to catch up on :)

Weekend English Camp

Last weekend we had an English camp on Saturday for primary students. We had students from our school as well as 2 others in the area. Because there was a variety of schools, some students spoke better English than others, nonetheless it was still fun. I volunteered to help with the kindergartners. I was put in charge of songs. Those of you that have seen me in action, you know I can rile up a group of kids with some songs! Well... it sort of happened that way. The camp was from 9-1:30 on Saturday and I had 4 groups of kindergartners for 30 minutes each. Not only did I have to teach them a song, but they were going to perform it for their parents at the end of the day. Lots of pressure. And, these aren't your average kindergartners. In Thailand there are 3 levels: K-1, K-2, and K-3. They start in K-1 at the age of 3! Yes, it's true. So I had 3-5 year olds. It was a bit hectic. There were several kids who wet their pants, some who cried, some who just ran around the room and didn't pay attention, but there were also some who loved the songs and sang along. Even if they didn't know English they could mumble the tune and follow the motions.
We sang the itsy bitsy spider, a fun song about wiggling like a bug, and my all time favorite, the hippopotamus song. If you have yet to see it, you're in luck, because I have it on video :)

Hip-Hip-Hip-popotamus from Elizabeth Dawson on Vimeo.

I also got to know a fabulous 4th grader from another school named Pong. His English was wonderful and he taught me some Thai words. He wanted to play tag pretty much the whole time, which was fun for the first 5 minutes, but after that, in the heat and flip-flops, it was not the most fun game. But he was a great kid!

Me and Mr. Allan, a volunteer from Canada who was instrumental in putting together the program for the day (and many other things as well!). (Yes I do have antenna's on my head... it was a bug theme)


Me and Pong with the awesome star bracelet he made

Staff Retreat

So, I'm a bit behind on my blogging, but things have been quite busy around here.
Let me catch you up a bit.
The last week of June, we had Thursday and Friday off. All of the staff from GES and the other school the Ektrakuls own, NCA (which is across the street) went to the beach! We chartered 2 buses and made the 3-4 hour drive from Bangkok to Pattaya. There were Thai teachers, Philippino teachers, American teachers, Chinese teachers, and Canadian teachers. It was great to get to spend time with everyone outside of a school setting.
We relaxed and played some "get to know you" games, like scavenger hunts and never have I ever.
It was an awesome weekend! Pattaya isn't exactly the most beautiful beach in Thailand, but it was a good break from routine. We hung out on the beach and went to the movies and did some shopping at the mall...
I'll be traveling to some of the nicer beaches on some upcoming breaks probably :)
Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

A Little Update

So, An update about the orphanage. 28 hours after the fundraising began, more than enough was raised to send all 12 kids to school, which means there is money left over for food and other provisions! Praise the Lord!! I will continue to post updates about India and Asha Mission as I get them. 3 of the 5 that were in India last fall are going back in just a few weeks. Lord willing I will be going for 2 weeks at the end of October, and one of those girls will still be there. It will be an amazing reunion and I am sooo looking forward to it. I can't wait to call the kids and see how their first few days of school went (especially the ones who had never been!) and to get the okay to come in October.
Now a shift back to life in Thailand. I am absolutely loving it here. The food is amazing, the people are amazing, and I am really learning my way around. There is so much to update, but I am tired, so for lack of time, I will just leave you with some pictures. We had crazy hat day on Wednesday, and some of the students were very creative! Here are a few pictures from the day: