A Week in Ayutthaya

Wat Yai Chai Mongkol, the largest of the ruins

Kate, Alex, Matthias, and I are not what you would call light packers

I have been in Ayutthaya, my home city for the next four months, for a week now, and an exciting one it has been. Not only did I move into my new apartment and discover a new city, but I also began my teaching assignment. Overall, week one has been pretty great, with my first 4 days of teaching not being a disaster (huge success).

The School
The secondary school that I am teaching at (2,700 students between the ages of 12 and 18) in Ayutthaya is a government school. I am teaching M1(12/13 year olds) and M4 (14/15 year olds). Within 45 minutes of my first day, I was in front of a podium in front of the entire student body giving an introduction of myself in a language most students barely understood. Promptly after my all-school debut, wondering if any of the students could even understand me, and what they thought of the three new (and only) foreign teachers, I taught my first class. In a few of my classes I have a Thai assistant, but they are generally there for classroom control, not for clarifying my instructions. I found myself alone in a room yesterday explaining to a class of 50 students what a question was. I have quickly had to learn how to simplify everything that comes out of my mouth, and I am generally still too complicated for beginner speakers to understand me.
 Going into my teaching assignment, I was told that it was going to be a "challenge." The biggest challenge I have faced so far is not being able to speak a word of Thai. It is not only frustrating because I cannot translate anything I am saying to help the students (though they would probably manipulate me and pretend that they didn't understand anything in English, forcing me to say most things in Thai), but I cannot reprimand them or defend myself if they say something rude in Thai. I just smile and nod. Oh, the life of a clueless farang (Thai for foreigner). Though I give my students a lot of grief, some of them are incredibly bright, others don't have enough basic English to be in a classroom with me, and others just can't stop staring at one of the three non-Thai teachers--sorry, people-- in the entire school.

I don't have any pictures of my school...but this is by my apartment

Though I feel a bit clueless 60% of the time, class is often fun and exciting. This first week I have been playing games with the students, and once they understand the rules, their competitiveness and laughter quickly fills the room...along with their interesting English nicknames (Oil, Arm, Cucumber, Beer, and James Hunter--he is Thai and barely speaks English-- are some of my favorites). The foreign language department is also very welcoming. We all sit in an air-conditioned office together. The Thai English teachers are eager to practice their English and will accompany the Foreign English teachers (me, Alex, and Matthias) to lunch and answer any questions about the constantly changing rules and days off.

Elephant tours

Working at the school a mere four days has already got me used to the Thai phrase, "mai pan rai," which means "no worries." If your students are 15 minutes late, go with it. If the rest of this week (Wednesday-Friday) is sports week and there are no classes, so be it. We have a 3-day week next week? Awesome. Class was cancelled midway through? See ya later, kids. I have never in my life had to "go with the flow" so much as I have in the past 4 days. Though it has been a challenge (sometimes more so than keeping a class's attention for more than 5 seconds), I am becoming more and more accustomed to the relaxed Thai way of life.


Quick Facts on Ayutthaya:

• The capital of Siam between the early 1300s and the late 1700s
• Was once the largest city in the world
• Some of the temples are architecturally similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia
• It's technically an island since it is surrounded by 3 rivers
• Usually seen as a day trip from Bangkok to tourists 

Elephants on their way to work.

A mere block away from the guesthouse I am living in (called the Grandparent's home...and yes, it's owned by an old couple) are red clay and brick ruins from the ancient capital of Siam. Wandering around Ayutthaya you will stumble upon old, unmarked ruins next to shops or hidden behind billboards. The touristy areas (which house the most famous wats in two large parks) are surrounded by wide avenues. Getting closer to the rivers, however, farangs are rarely spotted and the roads narrow and are lined with street vendors, small shops, and markets. I spent the weekend in Ayutthaya, one day by foot and the other on bike. It's a beautiful, flat city with historical ruins on (or between) almost every corner. I was actually a bit overwhelmed by how much there is to see on the island. I thought it would have seen the entire city in a day on a bike, but heat and curiosity of side streets and markets got me, and I am only familiar with about half of the island. My wandering led me to wats, parks, markets, and many many elephants both doing shows in a park and giving tours around the city. Though quiet at night, the city is vibrant during the day. It is a great place for a teacher to live as it is only an hour and a half (and 60 baht) from Bangkok, has many cheap food options including a night market every night a block away from my apartment, and historical significance to Thailand.

Buddhas that surround the main part of the temple at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol