LK Metropole Chon Buri

Oh the Thai school system....<br><br>I am sure I will continue to use this phrase for many months/years to come. <br><br>I suppose I am at a disadvantage in a way because I have had teaching experience in the US and see the materials, resources, and everything else that is readily available to students...and that was at an inner city school! So although before coming here I knew not to expect the same, some things still make me ...

I arrived in Bangkok early in the morning on Wednesday, made by way from the train station to the bus station via the sky train, and caught a four hour bus ride to the island of Ko Samet. There was no economy accommodation on the island, so I had to pay a pricy £14 a night for my own wooden hut, a minute's walk from the beach. I met up in the evening with Marcela, who I had met in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago, and had dinner on the beach with ...

... on a tour of the lake. We went on a small hike through the rain forest (oldest rain forest in the world), exploring in a local cave, had lunch in a floating restaurant on the lake, saw floating bungalows that stay above water on sticks, went kayaking/napping and now we are home. A long day. Going to get pizza for dinner and go to the local Raggae (?!) club. Tomorrow we leave for Krabi--the beach.

... before. It ended when an obvious stage plant came down and threw them a 20 baht note as a tip. No-one picked up on the hint so the cleaning lady was then told to throw some money too. Then other people started to tip them. There are seven crocodile shows per day. Our last stop was the crocodile nursery. Here we saw hundreds of crocodile eggs in the incubators. Apparently they have an egg breaking festival in May where the public can help with the hatching of ...

Twice a week the primary teachers have the pleasure (or misfortune depending on who you talk to) of going to the nursery to teach English. The majority of the children were just beginning to speak in their native tongues, but the syllabus required that they have equal instruction in English, Thai and Chinese. The diversity of language in the ...

... we were not in a deluxe room we were to be transferred to another hotel the next day. We started at Siam Bayview and we are now at A-one Royal Cruise the building is actually shaped as a ship and all the staff dressed up as sailors etc. Tash has been staying in during the night and Kate and i have checked out the action. Now during the day i have really loved pattaya i think being by the beach does that, the atmosphere and the feel of the place has been great, the ...

Hello from Trat (pronounced Trrrat) The road we're sitting by writing this tonight is about as different from the Khao San Road in Bangkok as you can get. We took a 6 hour bus journey today to escape the city and will be going to Ko Chang island tomorrow for some rest and relaxation on the beach - this travelling lark is tough! Our last day in Bangkok was interesting. We surrendered our passports to the Vietnamese embassy ...

... meeting hall. "We don't have any couches," said Tuum, "or a microphone." I could see from her face that she honestly didn't know what was going to happen. In the next fifteen minutes, the President of my TAO went on to shock the entire audience by speaking succinctly, informatively, and let's even go as far as to say eloquently, about our project. Unplugged! Students turned off their telephones, no one fell asleep, and we started our training on time. This was ...

... of conversation (okay, maybe second) is whether or not the government has collapsed. For multiple reasons, we're advised not to get entrenched in political conversations, but I find them to be some of the more interesting conversations I've had here. As of the time I'm writing this, Thailand's parliamentary government has been dissolved, and protests in front of the Prime Minister's office draw crowds of over 100,000 people per day. Rural farmers are not the only people laboring ...

... beautifully with koi ponds, sculpted trees, flowers, rock gardens, etc. There are 3 ornate teak gazebo type structures that the children play in, a playground and a soccer field. all for about 200 students. The students are very poor but the teachers know all their families well and took me for a motorbike ride around to stop at some of the student's homes. Some live in thatched roof type structures, some in houses mostly made of corrugated metal ...