Photo by Paknam WebAs my summer in Thailand is getting closer and closer, I've been interested in getting as much information as I can about the place I'll live.
This website shows pictures of Krabi. If you have a second just scroll down and look at the pictures. I can hardly believe I'll be living there!
And here are some pages that describe what teaching in Thailand is like. It is exactly as I remember it from my last trip.
Average Day in a Thai School
Thai School Part TwoFinally, here is my "official" job description. I cannot tell you how excited I am. I was eating my oatmeal yesterday morning when I opened it up and I actually started jumping up and down. Toby was really confused.
We need an adventurous person willing to teach English on a high school campus located in Blaypraya district of Krabi Province. You will work in a school of about 2000 students located about 40 kilometers outside of the city of Krabi. You would be expected to teach English, do class planning, and cooperate with the department head for English. The school will provide the curriculum but your imagination will be the ticket to fun with the Southern Thai. Use music, songs, games, or drama in teaching English. As the Thais are curious about customs in foreign countries, you can present a Christian viewpoint on the holidays celebrated in America. Inside the classroom, evangelistic opportunity maybe limited. But outside the classroom, share your testimony and Christian beliefs during leisure hours with students and fellow teachers. Extend your influence with students by being involved with after school activities such as sports, drama or special interest clubs. As friendships develop, you will be invited to visit the students in their homes during school breaks thus offering you a chance to get to know them on a more personal level. As you get to know the personality of your students & teachers, develop a way to clearly explain your faith and the basic tenants of Christianity in simple terms. As God leads, interest the Thais in wanting to know more about God & possibly start a cell group. The missionaries will follow-up. You will provide a detailed list of names & addresses.
The only part I'm worried about is the "adventurous" part. I'm not exactly adventurous but I guess if I wasn't at least a little bit crazy I wouldn't be going on this trip anyway!
Here's a couple more details about the trip (I'm posting this for myself, too, because I want to be able to look back on this!)
From the missionaries I'll be working with:
...you'll be doing, very similar to your days in Trang. The difference being that you'll be in a much smaller town and with very, very few Christians. But what an opportunity to share and begin leading a few students and teachers on the journey to salvation!
You will live in the town of Blai Praya, a town that we work in 2 days a week. No, the city is not like Trang. It is a small town. We asked the school to provide you with a place to stay and lunch meal. If they give you more it will be a bonus. I think that housing will be teacher's housing. It has internet at the school. The teachers are excited about your coming. There are about 5-7 teachers who teach English. The high school has about 2,000 students. Teachers and students may want to invite to their homes or on tours. This may be to your advantage and promote good relationships for the Gospel. We will go to the school and make sure what all was agreed upon in their committee meeting and let you know more later.
You will want to bring some money for food. Food costs from about 50B to 200B a meal depending on whether you eat Thai or Western food. So that will be about $30-40 a week depending on what you eat and how much you eat. For example a Whooper Meal is about 200B. (The baht is running about 34 baht to a dollar right now.)
On the weekends you will want to come visit us. Our province is a tourist destination. It has a river, with caves where prehistoric artifacts were found, Muslim island, and fish farming in the river. About 18 kilometers from where we live is Ao PraNang which is a beach town. There you can swim, get boats to go snorkeling, and eat western food (Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Co., & Swenson's Ice Cream). It will be more quiet while you are here because it is low season, but there will still be European tourists here.
Like I said, jumping up and down!!!
