Teaching English in Thailand: Day 21, Caffeine Please

Day 21: Tuesday 14^th July

Wow, day 21. These past three weeks have felt like a lifetime! Not in a bad way, but it just seems like forever ago that I was getting drunk on the plane, laughing at the guy sleeping with his mouth open opposite me. And here I am, three weeks later, wearing long skirts and fitting the role of an 'English teaching assistant' nicely, (even though it's more like 'English teacher!" 

Although it's been 3 weeks, I still can't bear waking up at the crack of dawn! And I'm not sure I will ever get used to it! I never realised how much I depend on a cup of tea each day to get me ready for the day. In Thailand, I've not managed to find any Tetley tea bags (dedication) and normal milk that doesn't taste like plastic, therefore I’m struggling without it. I never realised the effect it had on me before, but when I am without it I can really tell! I wake up at 6:50 to get ready for school, which I think is the earliest wake up call in my life! Of course, me being me, I leave it right until the last minute to get out of bed because I struggle to wake up so much. This means I have half an hour to get ready, meaning I don’t have much time to fit everything in, including breakfast and a hot drink.

Lunch: Pad Thai (again!) And yes, I do take a new photo every time because I'm one of those annoying people who photographs everything they eat..

I only had two lessons today, so I was sitting at my desk for a lot of the time. The inevitable happened at about 2pm: I fell asleep at my desk. I’m not sure how long for, but it was definitely long enough for my bracelets to become imprinted onto my face; a bit like Jacob onto Renesmee in Twilight - what a great film that is, by the way. In all fairness, we kept having power cuts so I didn’t have much else to do, and seeing as the lights were off... Winky wink ;)

Below: Student Opal didn't want the Princess to see her filling in her eyebrows so she hid beneath the desk. Strange things happen in Thai schools, hahaha.

 

Student Opal and Rowena in our 'office'

I was having a bit of a ‘meh’ day where I was just so tired, bored, and feeling a bit hopeless. So  when we got home, all I wanted to do was chill out. Before I could do that, we went to the market as Kanang wanted to buy some bits. I think I sleep-walked round the whole place, to be honest. When I finally did get home, what better way to relax than to drink beer and read a great book in the warmth of the evening? The sun was hiding and the odd thunder clap could be heard, so I felt a bit like a wild woman of the forest, sitting in Kanang's beautiful decking area that's filled with plants, wildlife and too many mosquitoes.

 

Reading through a Beer Chang. Inventive!

One thing I have definitely learnt in Thailand, is to always keep a bottle of beer handy at home for those needy times. We get  home from school at 16:30 and the shops cannot sell beer until after 17:00 because of trading laws. And going out half an hour after getting home is just annoying, so you either have to deal with it, or prepare in advance!! Luckily, I had one left over from the weekend. Its amazing how much a bit of alone time, a beer and a chilled out book can make you feel so much better. And a bit tipsy.

Kanang prepared for us a huge salad which scared me at first because it was so darn big! But it was actually very full of air so please don't hastily judge me for the amount of chlorophyll I consumed.... We had some snazzy Thai salad cream which was naiicee. And there was some red cabbage hiding in there which reminded me of a classic drunken kebab from the UK. Shame I didn't have more beers with me!

Tasty!

I managed to get an amazingly early night of about 10pm which is a new record! It felt so good. I even managed to squeeze in an episode of OITNB- score! I don't remember the last time I went to bed so early. Its very refreshing; I am going to try and do it again more often!

Peace,

Olivia