Teaching in Thailand to Trekking in Nepal

Current Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Chiang Mai, Thailand was my home for 6 weeks.

Ancient temple in Chiang Mai/Temple dog/looking down on Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep Temple

After crossing the border Laos border into Thailand by bicycle I hopped on a bus to Chiang Mai where I spent an intensive one month obtaining my TEFL certification through Siam Education. Although I have taught English and varying subjects in the past I never actually learned "how" to teach. The course opened up a door into teaching that I never knew was there. The 4 week course was broken into the two weeks of thai language/grammar/teaching methods and the two final weeks of actual teaching practices and lesson planning. I got to have the experience of tediously preparing lesson plans then teaching hour long lessons to Thai students from kindergarten 3 year olds up to college nursing students in their mid-20s. The Thai language lessons proved to be immensely rewarding as well. My interactions with locals changed drastically when I was able to communicate in Thai. Even though I only mastered basic conversation people responded with beaming faces and a willingness to help me continue learning the language. The Thai language lessons also served as a daily reminder how hard learning a new language can be. What we think as a few simple words or phrases to a new language learner start off as sounds then eventually take on meaning. It was a nice reminder when our class spent an entire 2 hours learning to say in Thai, "how are you?, I’m fine, or I'm not well" then when we ourselves teach language learners we must keep the lessons simple and concise. The Thai language also is a tonal language so we spent hours trying to learn the different tonal inflections. For example, "Suay" with a rising tone means beautiful in Thai and "Suay" in a low tone means bad luck. At first the tonal differential was almost unnoticeable but after practice we started to pick up on the differences, yet I am still leaps and bounds from mastering the tones.

Siam Education/My kindergarten class!/The whole class out to lunch:

The TEFL students, including myself, found the Thai students to have a strong eagerness to learn and kindness towards others that isn't often found in the West. This time in Thailand I really felt that I was able to connect with the culture and people. Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand is easily a city that I could live and work in. There are loads of ex-pats working, especially teaching in the city.

Graduation day!/Jane and I at Siam Education

I said goodbye to Thailand and headed to Kathmandu, Nepal 3 days ago to meet back up with Zach who just finished an amazing 1200 kms cycle across Tibet on some of the highest roads in the world. He is preparing a blog post about his own adventures, but I can promise the pictures and experiences are unbelievable. Other exciting news, our good friend Victor from Seattle just met us in Kathmandu! We are ecstatic to have him here with us and so far hes loving Kathmandu, although anxious to go trekking in the usual Victor fashion. We are leaving Monday morning (Oct 5th) from Kathmandu and taking a 10 hour bus ride to town of Besishahar, marking the start of the Annapurna circuit trek. We are giving ourselves 20 days of trekking to hike the Annapurna Circuit, the highest point is Thorung La pass at the height of 5416m or 17,769 feet. Having 20 days will give us plenty of extra times to acclimatize to the altitude throughout the trek and we are hiking the circuit backwards which apparently is better for acclimatization. The peak trekking time is now and there are many tea houses and accommodation along the way, although we are planning to camp mostly along the way.

Buildings lining a river in Kathmandu/Bulls!/Tibetan stupa within the city

After the trekking I will remain in Kathmandu to volunteer teach while Zach and Victor head to Thailand for a month. We are both unsure where we will meet up after they leave Nepal but we are still planning to work in Southern India come Dec/Jan. Since arriving in Kathmandu I have been busy meeting and spending time with the cycling group that went through Tibet with Zach and also running around buying last minute gear items for the trek. Our friends Katrina and Mike are leaving Nepal for Canada at the end of this week after more than a year cycle touring. Having cycled in 5 countries with Kat and Mike we are sad that they won't be continuing the journey with us.

We will be out of internet range during the trek for the next 4 weeks. Our entire trek is registered with the Nepal Government Trekkers Management System and the guesthouse contact in Kathmandu where our bikes and bags are stored is Hotel Holy Lodge. We love and miss you back home. Its hard to believe that we have almost been gone 1 year, time flys.