Thailand Blog :: weekend round off

Right, I've been slacking. I'm going to try to sum up my last few days in a paragraph each and no more.

Friday was an early finish at the school. Some kids stayed over on Thursday night (and I watched Charlie and the chocolate factory with them -  the Johnny Depp version. Wow is he fit when he plays odd characters!) I didn't really do much either. The kids played "Olympics" and I was the score keeper! After lunch I got on the bike and rode to Bang Saen with ukulele in tow. I found a park (with no grass) and cycled up the promenade where there was so much seafood and surprisingly durian! I bought an avocado for 75baht at Tops Market and cycled home.

Saturday I debated cycling to Pattaya. It took about 2 hours before I finally decided I was going so I got on the bike around 10.30am. Pattaya is 37km from where I'm staying and there's just one road, Sukhumvit highway 3. It took just over 2 hours and I was so happy when I saw Rasayana. So easy to find. I got 3 courses, veggie sandwich, nut loaf and strawberry mouse pie, which was frozen! Then I cycled to Central Festival Mall, bought mosquito spray, nuts and watched some guys dance in the arcade area. Then I cycled to find The Sanctuary of Truth, but the price said 500baht and with the sun falling I decided I'd go. I was almost hit once on the way home, I started crying shortly after and I stopped at the market before finally settling back at home. 

Today I had pins and needles and numbness in my hand, the one I fell onto when I fell over with the bike. I ended up cycling to the 2 temples though and buying coconuts. Then I went to the market and have pretty much eaten all day long. I just watched the documentary called McLibel and now I'm in bed listening to Nelly Furtado and sending pics of my silly faces to someone! 

The first mangoes were harvested from the farm yesterday so I'm going to be stuffing my face before I go! Yum. 

Off to bed and ready for another day of school tomorrow. Goodnight! 

Thailand Blog :: school

It was my 4th day at the school and it went slightly better. My job today was to look after the art room and instruct the children to make a toy. They were grouped in age range so that it's easier for us to help. 

The ideas that the kids came up with started off terribly from the first group. I asked one girl what toys she played with and she said none. These children come from wealthy families, but I guess they aren't spoilt like us westerners. I asked about dolls, doll houses, building blocks, cars, etc. Her response was she played with her cousin and they didn't have toys. Hmm... I was stumped. 

I expected at least one child to suggest making a computer device (because they love playing on the laptop) but not one person suggested it. In England there would be a class of 20 and only 5 people would suggest something other than a tablet/ipad/phone. It goes to show how different our countries are... 

I got the most enthusiasm from my final group, which made the last hour go by so quick. Only 1 person wanted to make a weapon, which was also surprising. Boys normally want to play with guns or swords! 

I have to say that these kids are so cute though. Asian children have an extra cuteness factor, even if English isn't their first language and I struggle to understand them. It's the big brown eyes, dark hair and skin. I just sit a laugh sometimes. But no matter what skin, race or religion, all children are the same. Innocent, strange and random :P

I'm going to stay until the 28th and then I will go on to another voluntary experience.