Thailand (1)

HEY it’s been one month since I finished my participation in a project in Thailand. It was indeed a life-changing experience. I learned a lot from that project, which was called Smile Project 5. Btw gue pake bahasa inggris yah soalnya pas nulis di thailand pake bahasa inggris. kalo banyak salahnya maapin.

In some rural areas in Thailand, the students cannot communicate in English. I guess that is the main reason why this project was held. AIESEC LC AU in Thailand brought AIESECers from other countries (including me, ofkos) to come to Thailand to teach basic English conversations and vocabularies and also to share our cultures to the students in the schools we teach. I am an engineering student, so teaching was absolutely new to me but I knew the experience would be useful for me, yah at least my public speaking skills would increase a bit. I also got the benefit to work with other amazing interns from various countries like Pakistan, Taiwan, China, Colombia, America, Egypt, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Beside that, Assumption Universtity has many international students so I also met some people from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and many other countries. Hearing their stories made me feel like I had ever been to all of their countries. It’s so exciting to meet people from various countries at once.

Okay, so on Friday 29/06/2012 I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 16.15. After that I tried to activate my blackberry. I took the unlimited package which was so expensive, 1009 baht, which more or less equals to 300rb Rupiah. Baru nyampe udah dirampok. I then waited at starbucks for about 5 hours until AIESECers from AU picked me up. Here I first met:

 Crystal from China

 Victoria from China

 

 Albert from Taiwan 

 Sandra from Egypt

(foto-foto diambil dari pp fb mereka)

Then the 5 of us went to Assumption University’s dormitory which was not like a dorm at all, it was more like a hotel. I was in the same room with Albert. Then the Organizing Comittees (OCs) told us that there was going to be another intern coming to our room. Okay so not so long after, we met another intern: 

Andres from Colombia 

So Andres and Albert were my roommate. They were nice. We were too excited that night (especially Albert) that we could not sleep until around 1 AM.

The next day was our first training day! We had something like, uhm, porridge with egg for breakfast. Then I met the other interns! There were:

Adinda from AIESEC Bandung, Indonesia

 Vicky from China

Puppy from China

Mo from China

 AJ from Pakistan

 April from America

Bamboo from Vietnam

Then we went to an auditorium. We did games, lots of games. It was fun. OH on this day I met my buddy!

Nan! She is so kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And also Adinda's buddy:

Pon! So friendly!

And then we were taught how to introduce ourselves in Thai, and also how to manage some unexpected situations that might happen in class while teaching. Beside that there was a professor teaching us some important Thai culture and some games that might interest the students in class. And also on this day, I found out that AU looked like a palace ~_~ so cool. so cool.

On the second day we went to a school in Ayutthaya and the interns were splitted into groups to teach the students. That was my first time teaching and although I did not teach alone that time, it was still a stomach-churning experience. I was with Andres April Papi and Crystal. We had to teach the students some simple words. I was confused at first but I gradually started to enjoy everything that time. I laughed with the kids, and gave them applause when they could answer a question, it was fun.

Then we had lunch. Tom yam, and spicy chicken. AJ gave up lol he couldnt finish it, he couldnt take spicy food at all I guess. Albert ate all of the food but at the end he cried because it was too spicy hahaha. Then there were a bowl of rambutans. Ar-roi!

After that, we went upstairs to a classroom and we had to write down our teaching materials for 6 weeks. ARGH I would have to teach all grades cause my partner from Lithuania could not join the project for some unclear reasons. But thats okay haha (tadinya okay. abis itu rada kesepian gitu deh). After that some of us presented our teaching plan to the teachers. And then we said good bye to each other cause we had to go to different schools for 6 weeks. So....... huhu. Okay.

Then I go to Wat Preampreech School with the Director of the school, Director Somwang. 

(Director Somwang adalah bapak2 yang kiri, sisanya dijelasin nanti)

He is extremely kind. First he took me to Lotus Dept Store to buy broom, buckets, milks, etc. He didnt let me pay at all :__) I felt thankful, yet so bad to cause him such inconvenience huhuh thank you and sorry. Then we went to buy me a muslim food. Turned out there’s one place that only sells muslim food! And the sellers wore sarung!! And he asked me “nasi goreng? Nasi kare?” haha and again, the director didnt let me pay for this. AND when we were at my dorm, he gave me mattress, rice cooker, iron, stove, and all stuff I will need to survive the weeks. SO KIND. Then I forgot what happened next. Hmmm I think he then went home. Oh he introduced me to one of my neighboor, Mr. Boy. He offered me to go to his house if I need to use internet cause he had wifi. Haha. Btw dorm gue biasa aja, ngga jelek ngga bagus. Banyak serangga bro.

ini kontrakan sih menurut gue. kangen juga yah.

And after they all went home, I found one problem........I could not turn on my lamp. I contacted my buddy, the director, and mr boy but somehow the message to director and mr. Boy were not delivered. My buddy, Nan, told me to ask for help. So I used body language to my other dorm neigboors. They helped me fix my lamp! AND AGAIN, I was not allowed to pay. And at that moment I met Miss Toy, one neighboor that could speak english. And other friendly neighboors. Thai people are so kind, really. After that I went to bed. 

Segitu dulu deh, gue takut kalo diburu-buruin jadi ngga lengkap. Tunggu lanjutannya yak yaudah makasih (berasa banyak yang baca)