Day 19 Fixed Preparation!

Wednesday, 23rd November 2022

Today, i followed Ajarn May’s class again. Even i was an undergraduate chemistry teacher but here, i joined Ajarn May’s class who taught about physics. Here, Ajarn may would explain about significant number. Actually i got this topic when i was in 10th grade but i didn’t understand so i just can see Ajarn May’s teaching. Although i couldn’t understand, but students still be excited around me. They talked to me alot and tried to pratice their english. I played or took pictures too with them, it looked so cute.

After observed Ajarn May’s class, i asked Ajarn May’s permission to not attend the next class because i had an appointment with Ajarn Paew from TRU. I’ll meet her before lunch break so before lunch break, i went to the Ajarn Paew’s room. I wanted to have a consultation with Ajarn Paew about my lesson plan, my power point, and my games. I explained to her about my scenario of my teaching tomorrow. Here i met Nam, and she stayed with me during the meeting, she would be my translator to Ajarn Paew if there was some words that i don’t understand or otherwise. Ajarn Paew said that my lesson plan was good, and my power point was stunning. From this consultation, i got my faith that i could have a nice teaching exam tomorrow. Ajarn Paew keep encouraging me that everything’s gonna be okay. She’s so kind and warm-hearted person so it could reach my heart and i felt so comfortable and grateful that i had Ajarn Paew as my supervisor.

Day 18 Preparation 2.0

Tuesday, 22nd November 2022

This week is my preparation week. I gave all of my attention to my teaching exam. My day would start as usual, the van picked us up at 06.30 a.m and the we’d headed to Anuban first to drop my friends from elementary school teacher and kindergarten teacher there. Then we’d headed to Sathit.

Even today was same. We had ceremony and pray in the morning. Then after that, it’s Ajarn Panin’s turn. I followed Ajarn Panin’s class today. Same as before, Ajarn Panin gave me a break after lunch so i could do my work to prepare my teaching exam requirements.

Day 17 Preparation!

Monday, 21st November 2022

Today could be my first day of my teaching week. I’ll be teaching on Thursday. Actually for the first time, i thought it could be friday but after i saw my schedule, it’ll be held on thursday.

As usual, our day started with the van picked up us in our dormitory at 06.30 a.m. And then we went to Sathit school. Just like a morning routine, we had ceremony, prayer, and so on. But today i would follow Ajarn May’s class again in Matthayom 4/1 and 4/2 till lunch break. After lunch break, Ajarn May always give me space to do my things. Sometimes i followed my friend’s class or maybe i would search more about my topic.

But today, after lunch break, i tried to seek more information about my chemistry topic. Ajarn Lookhin already told me that i would teach about “Alcohol”. Here i made my lesson plan and my point on power point. I just tried to adjust it to be a beautifull power point so my students could understand my topic.

Day 16 One Day with Ajarn Dao!

Sunday, 20th November 2022

Today, as Ajarn Dao said to us in the last day of Thai Language Class, she wanted to take us to the Saraburi Market. Because of she taught us about food and how to bargain to the seller, she wanted us to practice the Thai language that we got from her. So it was the same day as before, the van would picked us up from the dormitory at 6.40 am. Still even in weekend we needed to wake up early TT.

So around one hour, we arrived at Saraburi Market. Here we had a big gate written in Thai so i couldn’t read it. This market had a beautiful landscape because in this market was built near the lake. So while we shopping, we could saw the beauty of the lake. In this market, they sale everything, started with clothes, foods, raw materials for cooking, snacks, and so on. We got separated for few groups. I was with Akbar because we’re looking for snacks. And we got a lot of suspicious snack that maybe we’ve met it in Indonesia but different packaging. We bought some candies and it had a pretty shape and so colorful. And after a while, we went back to the near the lake. Here we met Atom and Intan whose taking photos of the lake. And not for a moment, we got called by Ajarn Dao to gathered up and eat together.

Along the way to the spot that we must gather, we bought a chicken and a fish even we bought a milk thai tea. We bought 40 baht for each food and 20 baht for each Thai tea glass. Then we continue to the near the lake. It was like a boat but they decorate it with a roof. So it was so calm and also beautiful. It provided a little table for visitors so they could eat easily. My friends and i started to eat and after that we took photos near the lake. I should admit it, it was beautiful. It just like a picnic with my family, eating hommade food, and sharing with other. I was so happy.

And then, we decide to move to the next destination. But along way we walked to the van, Ajarn Dao talked to us and recommended us to buy an ice cream. This ice cream was made from coconut or maybe in Indonesia we called it as “Es Puter”. Only 20 baht we got 10 scoops of ice cream so me and my friend Kiat decided to buy it. And i believe it was very soft, and taste so good. I don’t have any regret to buy this.

Then all of us decided to go to the Robinson. Robinson was a mall no it was a big mall. Maybe it was same with big C but it was bigger than Big C and maybe more complete than Big C. Here, me and Atom just bought some snacks and something that we wanted to buy. It took only 2 hours for us to grab something. That was because it was little bit pricey than Big C so we just bought something cheaper. After a while, finally we gathered again in the outside of the Robinson. Here we waited for the van to came back home.

After we arrived at the dorm, Intan told us that she got asked by Taro for a walk (Taro is one of our buddies), and he said that Intan should ask two more friends because he brought a car so there was 2 seat left. Then, Intan asked me and Atom to come. That was unexpected because i got plan than in the evening i wanted to play basketball, even i already told Ajarn Suwanna to borrow her basketball. But it’s okay, Atom and I just played basketball for an hour because we’re waiting Taro for come. And then we started another trip!

Taro (our buddies) took us to the field. It was just like a Hill. It had a very wide field. And it was 5 p.m in the evening, so the sky was very beautiful. The wind breezed strongly till it ruined Intan’s hair. But the wind was soft and i liked it. There was a beautiful worship place with a small buddha in it, and there also some food vendors around there. We took some photos together. After that, by Taro’s car we had a night trip together. Taro took us to the sunflower field, it could be wonderful under the daylight. But unfortunately, the sky was getting dark and we didn’t have a chance to go there, just a small picture to remember.

After spend few hours near the sunflower field, we went to the lake near this location. Since there’s a minimum lightning, we just bought snack and had a small talk with Taro. There’s a lot of people there, some with friends, or with their couple. After a few moments we spent our time here, then Taro got us home by car. Today was great, i got a new experience to order a food in Thai language. This is our challenge to us here since we’re going abroad.

Day 15 AYUTTHAYA TRIP!!

Saturday, 19th November 2022

Today, we got another trip again. Last week we went to the National Science Museum and Dream World in Bangkok. But today, we went to Ayutthaya. Initially, the van will picked us up at 7.30 a.m from the dormitory. Of course this was so exciting. In the morning, Atom and me started to prepare ourselves. I tried to pick a khaki shirt with grey trousers and a beige hijab. I did some make up on my face and voila, i was ready to go.

This time, we’re going to different destination in one day. First destination, we would go to the Giant Sleep Buddha(?) i don’t even know how to spell it in Thai. Here, i saw a great big buddha was laying on something and it was covered by a golden fabric. It was so fabulous! Along the way, i saw a lot of tourists and they also stop for a minute to take some pictures of the great buddha. So do i. Me and my friends, try to take some pictures around it.

Here, we got a footpath to the another destination, so after we felt satisfied we continue our trip to the next destination. After a long walk, we arrived at a vihara. It was so big, with a huge of buddha statue inside of it. It was very clean, tidy, and so amazing. Sometimes, people would pray here because it was like a mosque for moslems. Or maybe we could call it as an Istiqlal mosque for buddhist in Thai. It was little bit crowded, before we entered the room we needed to take off our shoes first to respect the buddhist. Inside of it, it was very amazing, so glamour and so bright. There was a lot of flowers and a lot of people took a knee to pray solemnly.

After we finished this temple, we moved to the next destination, only one word to describe it, ELEPHANT! We moved to the elephant house! that’s what i called it. Because it was so mant elephant, but here, there also so many beautiful spot to take a picture. Because i was afraid of heights and because we needed to pay to ride an elephant, so i decided to not ride it and just walk around hunting beautiful spot to take. But, Atom, Akbar, Rania, and Lala try to ride the elephant. Here, even i didn’t ride the elephant but i got a chance to touch it! It was so exciting! The elephant skin was so hard and rough. I touched the trunk when it was eating. It was so nice and polite, but i know it wasn’t allowed to slave an animal like that. It was clearly seen that they really in hell. They couldn’t do anything what they wanted to do. Even when people tried to ride them, they looked starving so they kept asking for food to the tourists and visitors. But touched them was enough for me.

And after a while, they took us to the restaurant. I was so surprised because here, we got a halal food easily but yeah it must be pricey because it was really hard to find halal food. And the most surprisingly was the restaurant has a MUSHOLA! Mushola was a room for moslem to pray. And here, i was so shocked, and Ajarn told me that the owner of this restaurant was moslems that’s why in this restaurant we could find a mushola or prayer room. It was on the second floor.

In this restaurant, for me personally, it was a little bit pricey. Because most of the food here was seafood. I ordered 1 beef noodle and for me it was good. We got the “Thai taste” original but also it was no too sour. But Atom and Yok (Jess) they ordered kinda a shrimp noodle and based on their testimoni, it was too sour. But, they got 2 big shrimp, and it was very juicy so they still can eat it, at least not for the noodles.

After we had lunch and prayed dhuhur, we went to the temple. I didn’t know exactly how we called this. But something exactly what i know was, it was a temple like borobudur in Indonesia, or Prambanan temple. Its landscape was so beautiful, and there was a huge- no massive temple i don’t know should i call it temple or vihara because there was a lot of people who come here to pray and enjoy the view. On the first walk, we saw a huge temple maybe that was the main temple, and we needed to use the stairs. So many stairs haha till we arrived on the top.

Here we just needed to grab our pocket 100 baht. And for me, it was worth it. After that we continue our walk try to surround the temple and took photos when we got a good spot. And then, the road ended on the beautiful vihara with a huge buddha was sit in it. We must take off our shoes before we entered to respect the buddha. The buddha was so huge and so shiny and it was made from gold i guess. Here there was so many pictures from the buddha itself and so many histories inside the building. Then after a long walk, i saw my friends shooke a glass with sticks in it. I just got curious and tried it too. I shooke it till one stick come out and it would say what would happen in the future, like a phychic. And then i tried to read it, and it said like this “Beware of the past and be careful of any affairs. Seek advice from elderly and follow old beliefs. Sickness will be recovered. Issues are still not settled. Fortune is found as you expected. Relatives welcome your visit. You will meet your loved one in the near future”. I asked P’Mon to explain me what happened. And she said mine was so so. It’s balance :3

End then after that, we end this religious section, and we continue our trip to Ayyuthaya Market? I don’t know how to spell it, but we’re exactly going to market! Here i’ve got so many stuffs, and it was so cheap. I bought some purse for my mother. Some of my friends bought some souvenirs like pencils, purse, clothes, keychain and others. After we were done for shopping, me and my friends waited for the other in some place. As long as i waited the others, my friend Kiat (Gai) showed me an animal. It stayed beneath the tree and didn’t move. It looked like a lizard or maybe a komodo with a smaller one. In Indonesia we called it as “Biawak”. My friend from Thai said that if we found this animal, or it showed up and we saw it coincidently it means that we’re lucky.

After we all complete, then we drove home safely and took a rest.

Day 14 Study Thai Dance!

Friday, 18th November 2022.

Today maybe we could call it as the same as before. The van picked us at the dormitory at 6.40 a.m. Still can’t get used to it but it’s okay. So we just did our routinity. Every morning, the students needed to stand the ceremony, a brief ceremony. Me and my friends must join the ceremony too. Here we prayed and waited till the ceremony end. This day was same like before, i just got observation in Ajarn May’s Class.

The fun came after that day. On 13.00 o’clock we needed to join the Thai Dance Class. So after the class, we moved to the next building near Sathit. Here we met Ajarn Wunwi, and our instructor, Smile. She was so pretty and sweet girl, she also a model! No wonder that she was so beautiful.

Before we started to our dance class, we needed to do some warm up. And seriously that was very hard. I think it’s not difficult for someone skinny, but i wasn’t skinny, that’s make me hard to follow. But no worries cause i had my buddies here. I met Nam, Bam, and Amp. We just did together, before we started to, we also needed to “a traditional pants” from Thai. So, we did the entire moves with this pant, even the warm up.

Smile taught us, step by step, she was very honest and so patience when she taught us about every moves. I think it’s not totally different from Indonesia Traditional Dance, but i think it was very hard. After we learnt all of the steps, we tried to practice it from the beginning till the end. And we did it very well. After that, time flied so fast till at 5 p.m, we ended our session and took a photo together.

After we had the Thai Dance Class we returned back home to the dormitory. Here, i entered my room with Atom (my roommate) and did too many this like took a shower, cleaned our room and etc. After a while, we were bored. So we decided to play basketball. Coincidentally, we had a basketball court near our dormitory, but the problem was we didn’t have any basketball. Then we tried to contact the Ajarn Suwanna. Fyi, Ajarn Suwanna lived near our dormitory too, so everytime we needed anything would contact Ajarn Suwanna. She was so kind and so friendly. Me and Atom tried to contact Ajarn Suwanna for a basketball. She said that she didn’t have it, but she would borrow her neighbor. So, we had appointment at 7 p.m.

Me and Atom walked to the Ajarn Suwanna’s house and when we arrived there, we found a big old white dog. It’s little bit scary but i know i was not alone. So i put my faith on me then i took the basketball. Then we played basketball till we tired and back to sleep.

Day 13 Real Observation (3)

Thursday, 17th November 2022

Today was the same day as before. The van picked us up at 6.40 am. After we arrived at Sathit, we dropped our bags and stuffs in our room and followed the ceremony that be held every morning. And after that, i followed Ajarn Panin’s Class in 6/3. In Sathit School, my final teaching was in Matthayom 6 (it means 6/1 6/2 and 6/3) but i only observed the 6/3 class. And that was a failure for me because i didn’t get the bonding with the students from the other class. So today i just followd one class at 8.30 to 10.10 am in 6/3. And after that i got a free time so i did another excercise or maybe prepare my lesson plan to do my final teaching.

Day 12 Let’s Go to Big C!

Wednesday, 16th November 2022

Today was same as the other day. The van picked us up at the dormitory at 6.40 a.m, with the same routinity. And then we went to Sathit School but wee needed to drop the Anuban Team (Hena and Esti from elementary education and Ulfa and Zulma from early childhood education) to the Anuban Lopburi School. And today we followed the ceremony with the sathit theme song (i really love this song) it’s a proper song to be played in the morning. After ceremony, i followed ajarn May’s class maybe the same class, matthayom 4/1 and 4/2. And i got break after lunch.

After we finished our agenda in Sathit, P’Mon took us to the Big C. Big C was a mall maybe we could call it as a supermarket a huge one. Actually, we also had one big C near our dormitory, but i think that’s the small one. That’s why P’Mon took us to the Big Big C. Since we need to cook by ourselves every morning. And every week we needed to collect money for each person to buy some raw materials to cook. And every week, P’Mon promied to us that she would take us to the Big C to buy these raw materials. If we compared it with other supermarket like Lotus, 7 eleven, or maybe Robinson, Big C was the cheap one that’s what P’Mon said. And i admit it. Instead of raw materials, we also bought some daily needs there. For example, i need perfume or lotion (for mosquito), or i bought some sheetmask, and etc. I feel so excited because this is our first time to go to the big mall in Thailand, not in 7 eleven or Lotus but it was the mall. But for me personally, i needed time to pray because P’Mon took us to the Big C at 5 pm and finish to gather again at 7 pm. That’s the time to do Maghrib Pray (it’s a little bit struggle because we couldn’t find any Mushola or Mosque around there).

Day 11 Real Observation (2)

Tuesday, 15th November 2022

Today as usual, we went to school by van. The van picked us up at 6.40 a.m. It was normal but still we’re still struggling for that. Sometimes we need more time to prepare ourselves, especially Hena needs to wake up at 3.30 am to serve our breakfast. And all of us needed to spend all day long. We went to Sathit School and just did our daily routine.

Today i observed Ajarn Panin’s Class. But all of my friend that had no class at that time needed to follow Biology Practicum Class. But i had Ajarn Panin’s class so i didn’t follow them. In Biology Practicum Class, they needed to do surgery to the fish. They looked the organs of the fish. My friends were really enjoy that time because they collaborated with students to do the practicum. Meanwhile i would observe the Matthayom 6/3 till lunch. My first impression for this class was maybe so so with class in Indonesia. They have a little for attention. They couldn’t pay attention for a long time, they easy to get bored. And i had one person in class that maybe he understand about english. So i talked to him during the class, and i tried to help him if he needed help for something that he didn’t understand.

Day 10 Real Observation

Monday, 14th November 2022

Today, we just passed our day with usual day like before. In the morning, we followed the ceremony. In the ceremony we stand behind the students just like the other ajarn. After ceremony, and pray, there were some news declared every morning. And after that, i followed Ajarn May’s class in Matthayom 4/1 2 learning hours from 08.30 – 10.10. Then the next hour i also followed ajarn May in Matthayom 4/2 till lunch break.

My first impression with the 4/1 and 4/2 class were amazing. They had good skill in english even they still a little cute baby but they could speak english very well. At least they understand what i said. They always want to reach and talk to me even when they didn’t understand or how to speak it in english but they always want to try. I appreiate that desire. Here, in matthayom 4 (it means 10th grade) were contained almost 50 people in one class so it was little bit crowded but still fun. And after break, i just went back to our room in Ajarn Abb’s room and do some excercise of me till we went home to the dormitory.