Loy Krathong at Kristines kindergarten and Stephens first few days teaching uni students

So it was only a few days til Loy Krathong, one of the biggest festivals here in Thailand. But before the big day on Sunday I (Stephen) had 8 private lesson classes to teach luckily enough would mainly revolve around introduction ie where am I from, whats Ireland like and things I like and dislike. The first class as we were thought is all about assessing your students proficiency in grammar, past tense, pronunciation and vocabulary. 
From there you can build your lessons around this. So my first two hour lesson would be to 24 university students and I was, as they say in Australia “ packing my dacks” which im sure you can work out for yourselves. The most I had thought previously was 6 students and in a 1 hour lesson that I had a week to prepare. When I first arrived I was shown my new desk in the office. 
Oh no, back to an office I thought, but turns out its only where I keep my materials for the week and check in for absenteeism. Which is quite ironic as absenteeism was my major in secondary school. I was extremely proficient in it :) I was met by a man who is running the English program I had been assigned to and we were chatting for an hour just about life and my reasons for being in Thailand. 

I think it was mainly to find out if I was another backpacker who would start a job and disappear without notice after 2 months once I had enough money to continue my trip. 
This happens all too often here with travelers but luckily for me it means there is always work all year round and not just at the start of semesters. So after the chat he showed me to my classroom which made my heart sink a little bit more as it was a huge room with a projector screen which would be more suited as a football stadium big screen. However I may consider watching a few movies on it if I get bored.


To my happy surprise I walked out of my first class grinning from ear to ear. All the students where attentive and happy to interact rather than shy away like some
 younger kids I've thought. The great thing is that I'm still teaching them intermediate English, so I have no issues talking to them, the hard pint is finding different ways of explaining it to them with gestures and diagrams. I knew all those Christmas's kicking ass at Pictionary and Charades would pay off :)

The second lesson I did about was a restaurant lesson on the Friday, were I would teach them different methods of using the verbs “can and would” and to give you an idea those two verbs can create a 1 hour lesson.
 I had them role-play sitting in a cafe ordering starters mains, drinks and dessert and then changing the quantities of items to see how they got on. In order to get the room a bit more more working as a team. Using some techniques and games I found online from 100's of teaching sites.. really all you need to teach ESL (English as a second language) is good internet connection and the ability to speak in front of a crowd.. oh and have fun..fun is 60% of the class. So using an instruction game where I asked them all to write out 3 personal questions and put them in a box then to stand in a circle at the front of the class. This took a bit of coaxing as they walked up to the front with expressions of "lambs to the slaughter" on their faces. 
I had written 10 rules on the board ranging from "ask a girl, ask a boy, answer 2 questions, ask the teacher and pick a topic" etc.. they would take turns to pick a number from 1-10 from a cup and then using that number pick a rule from the board then pick  a question from the box and choose another student from the circle to answer. This went so well as they would laugh when a question like do you have a boyfriend/ girlfriend would come out and giggle as a girl would ask another boy in the class slightly giving the answer away :) When the “ask the teacher” question came up fits of laughter as they would get to find out something about me. I would correct any grammar of pronunciation errors in the questions and answers. This lasted an hour and could have gone on longer so i will be returning to this game again in a few weeks, the topic question required them to pick a topic ie. cars and go around the circle until someone repeated or couldn't guess.
When I left that class 2 students met me outside and wanted to keep speaking English which i thought was a good sign.


On Saturday and Sunday I thought 3 classes each day to kids ranging from 12-16 year olds and only the first class having 16 students and the other 2 only four students which was a whole other kettle of fish and I was able to use my pre-made lessons from the TEFL course, so I have 5 weeks of no preparation for that class which makes life a whole lot simpler as I can take my time staying ahead of myself.


The same week I (Kristine) had been busy all week with my Kindergarten kids getting ready for the schools Loy Krathong parade, happening on Friday (15^th nv.). I was asked to wear traditional Thai garments which I was not sure what they were yet. I arrived at school and as usual was met by all the happy kids dressed in traditional clothes and began to prepare for the parade.
 The kids made their own Krathongs which are the floats you put in the water at the festival in order to wash away any past indiscretions and bring in the new year. The kids walked around the school grounds singing the Loy Krathong song and I had a blast spending the day with them, as did they. Loy Krathong falls on the Full moon of the 12^th Thai month. Loy Krathong translate to Floating Crown or decoration. Krathongs are made from banana leaves and trunks and decorated with flowers. On the night they have fire works, shows ,parades, sporting events, markets, beauty pageants and the release of the large fire floats or Khom Loi's which have now made their way to western events like new years and Halloween and look and act like mini hot air balloons. The festival itself they say may originate from an ancient ritual paying respect to the water spirits. 
The whole day was full of singing songs and some dancing, it was hard to wipe the smile off my face at the end. The kids are sooo respectful to each other and to their elders. They go out of their way to greet you before and after each class and bow and every time they see you. Ok here is a quick run through of how and when to give some one a Wai in Thailand. To Wai is to bow your head and bring your hands together in a praying action at chest level. You are suppose to Wai to your elders and to some one in a higher position first. Children Wai you first so you never initiate it. When giving a Wai to a Monk or to the King( if you ever get the chance you place your praying hands above your head. The higher the Wai the more respect given. A Wai is meant as “ Hello, thank you, I'm sorry or goodbye”. You are not suppose to return a Wai to a child, waiter, clerk etc simply nod and smile. I wondered why people in shops laughed when as I would leave I would Wai.


So Sunday is the big festival and we cant wait.. plus Kristine has sports week next week so preparations for egg and chopstick races are in order.. yep no spoon used here :)