A note from training...

I finally made it to an internet cafe during training. Its not that they are hard to find- this one is just down the street from our hotel- we've just been so busy with the training this is the first day I had time.
I thought I was going to feel like a lost puppy away from its mother for the first time when I first left Margo at her aunt's house and took a taxi to the hotel, but I was just nervous to be navigating through Bangkok by myself. I got to the hotel after the taxi driver dropped me off at the wrong place, but it was very close to the actual hotel I was supposed to be at, so one of the guys at the first place brought me to where I needed to be. My roommate at training is really cool. She's from Cali, is Cambodian, and knows some Thai, so we've gotten around together without a problem. After our first day of training the two of us went to Khao San road, which is where every tourist goes for a least a little bit. Its a street full of vendors- vendors of food, clothing, watches, jewelry, pirated music and movies, basically everything. We decided we had to go there at least once. Yesterday after training we went as a group to Siam square, where the newest (and most expensive mall is.) By expensive I mean, Prada, Coach, and all the other name brands I don't know and don't buy. Needless to say I didn't buy anything there (well except food of course.) We then went to a bar called the 360, which boasts a 360 degree view of Bangkok from the 31st floor of the Hilton Hotel. The view was amazing, especially at night when the lights set the city aglow. The prices for drinks weren't quite as amazing. I can't complain though because they weren't even expensive for NYC standards, just high compared to everything else here, and high compared to what we will be getting paid as teachers. I found out that while we don't get paid all that much, we get paid up to 3 times what Thai teachers make. This doesn't seem fair at all, but schools wouldn't be able to attract farang (western) teachers if they paid us the same as they did Thai teachers.
Training so far has been helpful for me. Its not all that exciting, but they've gone over stuff like lesson plans, what to teach, what to expect from Thai students, what to expect anywhere in Thailand, grading etc...
This was more helpful for me than for most because I am one of the few that has no teaching experience or hasn't taken a teaching english as a foriegn language course. Today we did sample lessons. I was the only one in my group that didn't just finish a 3 week course in Phuket, Thailand, so my lesson was completely different from the rest of theirs (so more exciting). They all liked it, so I think it went well. I'm still nervous for my first day, which is next Thursday (the 30th.) I was supposed to start November 3rd, but since the school starts earlier and I don't have to take a trip to Laos to get my non-immigrant visa, I agreed to start a few days earlier.
Training ends tomorrow, and after that Margo & I will head up to Lampang, which is about a 7 hour bus ride.
I met the other new teachers that will be placed in Lampang. They won't be at my school, but they will all be in the same apartment building as me because the schools are so close. I think we'll have a fun time in Lampang :)