Teaching English in Thailand: Day 4, Meeting Kanang

Day 4: Saturday 27^th June

Being the diva that she is, my mentor demanded that the school allow us to fly up to Khon Kaen from Bangkok rather than get a gruelling 8 hour bus ride in the heat. This mean that we could leave at a leisurely time and- oh, wait, we still left at 9:30. Cheers then! These early mornings are killing me!

We ended up being about 2 hours too early so tired old me had to wait in the airport and sit nicely like a good girl rather than splay myself out on the floor for a snooze. After a short flight of 45 minutes, my host Kanang met me at the airport. It was like that scene in Love Actually where they all dive into each other’s arms for a loving embrace…. Not really. But she did shake my hand!

A ten-minute drive in the scorching heat took us to Kanang’s cute little house- just like her! I have my own room with a desk and a wardrobe (and a bed, of course) and even air con! I liked this lady straight away! I also have my own bathroom and we have a nice big kitchen and living room.

Not long after I arrived, Kanang ("call me "Nang" ) took me to the mahoosive shopping centre in Khon Kaen where we wandered round every single shoe shop in the place (Kanang likes shoes, even more than me) and also ate an incredible meal in ‘MK’. You choose your ingredients off the menu and then you cook it yourself on the little in-built hob! It was so cool and the best thing was that it was pretty healthy, with lots of vegetables and protein. We also had a side order of duck that rocked my world! Free refillable Chinese tea was the cherry.

After doing a little food shop where we found some interesting things, such as Durian fruit (smells like crap, YUM) and these little fruits which I have been searching frantically for since I ate one in Malaysia in 2013(!) we headed home. I was bloody knackered so called it a night at about 9pm (I know, lightweight!) and began a night of freezing my ass of in the air con vs sweating like a beach without it. The joys!

Rest day tomorrow, yay!

Olivia

Teaching English in Thailand: Day 3, Breaking Ice

Day 3: Friday 26^th June

After a very hot and slightly sleepless night, the dreaded alarm went off at the crack of dawn (7:30), signalling the start of a long and tiring day.

We all met in the huge ballroom after a croissant-filled breakfast and found our seats next to our mentors. My mentor, Thanomsri was very happy to see me and it was lovely to be met with such a big smile! She is the head of English at the school I have been placed in, but not the lady who I am staying with for the duration of my placement; I will meet her tomorrow!

We listened to the Thai minister of education and ambassadors of various places speak, as well as a man from the British Embassy who warned us about the dangers of getting too drunk, drugged up and banged up in Thailand alongside some funny photos of the aforementioned situations.

The day continued like this, broken up by some very welcome coffee breaks, and in my case, a half an hour nap. We then took part in an ice-breaking workshop, which involved each ETA and their mentor getting to know one another through games and other activities. My mentor and I managed to communicate very well because she has a high level of English, thank goodness!

We all had dinner together that night, and most ETAs sat with their mentors. Some speakers and also some brilliant singing accompanied the evening from a group of boys from the local school, even if the (English) lyrics sometimes came out as a mumble or mix of random sounds. I had a good laugh about it with my fellow ETA across the table, anyhow.

Once we were free, many ETAs including myself went out, either into town or just down the road to the bar. I opted for the latter, after the previous day’s taxi shenanigans! The bar ‘Rim Bit’ was on the river and was such a lovely place! We sat out on the decking area in the lovely warmth of the Thai evening and enjoyed the live bands and Singha Beer, accompanied by some nice chit chat with one another.

It will be sad to say goodbye to everybody tomorrow as we all depart to our various placements. I am lucky enough to be placed in the city of Khon Kaen, in which a few other ETAs are placed so we can meet up still J

Now i'm going to sleep a little bit nervous, a bit scared, a bit excited and very hot!

Olivia

Teaching English in Thailand: Day 2, Crazy Taxis in BKK

Day 2: Thursday 25^th June 2015

"Sawasdee ka" Thailand!

Blimey, that was a long flight! After I had signed off from my last post a few of us ‘Tetters” re-grouped at the back of the plane, mostly by chance! I guess we were drawn to the smell of vodka and (surprisingly nice-smelling) toilets! We even bagged ourselves a few KitKats and other tasty treats from the little kitchen area; score!! We wasted about an hour or so chilling there, having a few drinks, getting in the way of the air stewardesses and anybody needing the loo. After this I managed to squeeze in about an hour’s sleep, which I was less than impressed about, seeing as we had a whole day of exploring Bangkok ahead of us!

 

Once we were safely off of the plane and into the furnace of cloudy, humid Bangkok, we were picked up by some lovely British Council people who drove us to The Royal River Hotel, which we would be staying at for two nights whilst we completed orientation and registration onto the programme.

 

We were all so hot and bothered by the time we got to the hotel (we thought the journey would take 15 minutes but took about an hour!) that we chilled for a bit before heading out to explore. The same group of us who met at the airport reconvened and went in search of some tasty street food. This led us to splitting into two groups and heading into a busier area called Siam Square in two different taxis. As expected, we lost the other group and ended up spending the whole day as a four. Our driver insisted he was following them the whole way, thinking we were stupid enough to believe him.

 

We thought that was bad… Our taxi home was even worse! After two or three taxis declining our request to go back to the hotel which was a fair while away, we managed to get into one and show the driver a map and address to try and get him to understand where it was. We agreed a price of 200TB (rookie error, always get a cab with a meter) and halfway through the journey we realised he was going in the complete opposite direction! That was when he started playing up; demanding more money off us, and saying he would leave us in the middle of the traffic, so we just said we would get out of the cab if he was unhappy with it.

That’s when he locked the doors.

He locked all the doors!! We didn’t want to complain because clearly, he was in a strange mood, but at the same time we didn’t want to carry on going further away from our destination. He was playing with us. After about an hour of nervously waiting in traffic that he purposely put us in, we decided to pay him the full fare of 200TB and he finally let us out, even though we were further away at this point than we were at the start. When he unlocked those car doors, I think we all felt such a wave of relief that we would live another day!

 

Bangkok traffic is crazy!

We managed to hail another cab with a cute older driver who didn’t look up for any hassle. He got us home perfectly, and some of us even had a little snooze! Once back at the hotel, there was only one plan: dinner, shower, bed. All before 9pm, too!

I've got to be up bright and early to meet my mentor tomorrow for a long day of orientation and ice breakers so I can't wait to have a nice snooze with my rock solid hotel pillow...

I wish those “Tetters” luck who went out for drinks tonight; rather you than me!

Olivia

Bubble Tea: What Is It?

There is so much confusion around what Bubble Tea is. I mean, everyone knows what 'bubbles' and 'tea' are, however, most traditional english tea drinkers are left a little dumbfounded upon first hearing about the combination of the two. When I first stepped into a bubble tea shop in Bath a few years ago, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. When I asked what an ‘original’ tea tasted like, the girl looked at me like I was mad and replied “tea”. It was all very unhelpful and strange. I now know that it tastes like a strong yet sweet cup of English tea- usually served cold. Since then, I have scored myself a brilliant part time job at Pearls Bubble Tea on my University campus (how convenient?!) and I LOVE it. My love for the job and the product has led me to want to introduce bubble tea to those of you who don’t know what it is, or who are a little afraid to give it a go.

Me and my Pearls girl Mona

Background

Before I get into it, I’ll give you a little intro to what bubble tea is! Bubble tea is also known as ‘boba tea’, ‘pearl milk tea’ as well as many other names that it has gained around the world. Bubble tea is a drink made from a base of green or black tea, which is flavoured using powders and syrups. The drink originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and is spreading fast throughout the world. It has become popular in the UK over the past few years after having such a good response in the US.

Toppings

The ‘bits’ that you see floating around in it are a variety of things; they can be classic black ‘boba’ pearls made from tapioca, or fruit jellies, popping pearls, seeds, beans, custard and lots more fun things! We call these ‘toppings’, even though they usually rest at the bottom of the cup - crazy, eh?! Toppings really make the drink fun because every now and then when you take a sip, you’ll get a tasty treat come up through the extra-wide straw so you can really have your tea, and well, eat it too! The toppings are all optional, so don’t be put off bubble tea if you’re not so into having bits in your drink!

Sweet and chewy Tapioca pearls

Varieties of drinks

Bubble tea shops usually have a huge range of flavours. The shop I work in has over 50 flavours! You can even mix and match these flavours if you’re into funky tastes, so go for it! Some bubble tea shops also use fresh fruit in their bubble teas so you can even get some of your 5 a day!

We sell fruit teas and milk teas. The difference between the two is that all of the fruit teas use a green tea base, with your choice of flavour of fruit syrup mixed with it (plus any toppings of your choice). The milk teas are a little more complex, but i'll explain that a little later. You can have your drink made cold, hot, warm, with/ without ice, or even have it blended into a slushie, so there really is something for everyone.

Left: A mystery fruit tea with tapioca and basil seeds. Right: strawberry & vanilla milk tea with tapioca and apple jelly.

Fruit tea

These are refreshing, sweet and light. A lot of people are put off because they ‘don’t like tea’, but believe me, you wouldn’t know you are even drinking tea! They are prefect for the summer because their icy fruitiness is just what you need in the heat.

Milk tea

The milk teas can use a black OR green tea base, depending on the flavour of the drink. At Pearls for example, chocolate milk tea uses black tea, and banana milk tea uses green tea – it’s just the way that Pearls does it and the recipe that we use, although other brands use different recipes. Flavoured powders are mixed with the tea, and you can add any toppings you like. Milk teas are like a thin milkshake. Anybody with a dairy or similar intolerance has  probably just turned off, I can tell! But, stay with me folks! We use a non-dairy creamer for our ‘milk’ teas so they are perfectly fine for you guys with intolerances, and still incredible for everyone else! *Steady on, vegans! The creamer contains a dairy derivative which isn't suitable for you guys (cries).*

Fruit jellies and popping pearls

We mix our special powders with tea to create a yummy, smooth drink which you can enjoy cold or warm.

Despite the huge amount of fans of bubble tea, many people dislike it because it’s a bit odd. I’ve heard bubble tea to be described as ‘bath water with left over bath bomb bits in it’, ‘frog spawn juice’ and other unappetizing names. However, your opinion could vary so much depending on which drink you try! With so many flavours available, you’re bound to dislike a few of them- just like I do! But I’d definitely recommend that if you don’t like your first bubble tea, try another, because there’s a whole other variety out there for you to try: fruity vs milky! 

My favourite: vanilla slush!

Fun fact: the name 'bubble tea' comes from the bubbles that are created when the drink is shaken!

What's your favourite flavour?!

Peace out, and enjoy your tasty teas!

Olivia x