First Week in Thailand.

My first week in Thailand was so interesting. Many things happened in my first week. On Monday, 7 August 2017, We went the school which has 162 km far away from Lampang city. We went there with the vice president of the school and the English teacher from the school. After arrived at the school, we also went to our dorm which was located in the school. We cleaned the house and we went to school to see the teachers there. There were also some foreign teachers at that school; one from Philippine, one from Russia, and one from Ukraine. The school has two kinds of classes; MEP (Mini English Program) Class and Regular Class. I was supposed to teach MEP class grade 2 and my mentor should be Mrs. Yulia, the English teacher from Ukraine.

ASEAN Day in Anuban Ngao School.

On Tuesday, 8 August 2018, there was an ASEAN Day celebration there. All of the teachers and students were wearing a traditional costume from all the ASEAN countries. For me, this was my first time to see ASEAN Day celebration because, in my country, there is no celebration of ASEAN Day. That was so interesting to see the students who performed traditional arts and costume from the different country in one event. I and my three Indonesian friends were also wearing kebaya and traditional costume from Lampung.

Mrs. Yulia, English teacher from Ukraine.

On the next day, 9 August 2017, my schedule to teach was given to me by one of the teachers in Anuban Ngao. I scheduled to teach English for grade 2 in MEP Class with Mrs. Yulia as my mentor. I observed her teaching process on that day. Wow, it made me so interested in! I really like the way her teaching to young learners. I thought that she became the real role model of a teacher. At the end of the class, she always asked me about what should and should not exist in her class, like her appropriate behavior, the method of teaching, and so on. Overall, I really enjoyed to observe her.

Woody, MEP teacher from Phillippine. 

My activity on Thursday, 10 August 2017 was observation according to the schedule of my mentor. I had one class in grade two. For the second time, I observed Mrs. Yulia's class, I found some interesting things there. She knew about the characteristics of each student in grade two. Even though the students only 8 students, she knew exactly the characteristic of her students and knew how to treat them, because every student cannot be given the same treatment. Oh! There is something interesting in grade 2, it was a student who has a special needs because he is an autism child. However, Mrs. Yulia always gave the same treatment to him, I mean she gave him like a normal student in that class, and you know what? He was smart and he can follow the lesson every day! That was one of the things I admired from Mrs. Yulia. She was a smart and wise teacher, she knew her students and their needs. Even for each student did not give the same test in evaluation time. She made a different standard for every student because they had different competence. 

When I went back to the dorm, there was an information from the coordinator of LPRU. She said that we had to move from the dorm and the school because my coordinator and my friend's coordinator asked her to move us to the dorm and school closer to the city. Yeah, at that time my feeling was so complicated. I was happy because I would have a better place to live in but I was so sad to leave the school and the people there, especially Mrs. Yulia and other foreign teachers. However, I had to follow the rules. I had to move to the new dorm and school. At night, there was a foreign teacher from Phillippine visited me and my friends at the dorm, and we said that we would move. He was so sad to hear that news. He said there was no farewell just hellos.

Mother's Day Celebration in Annuban Ngao School.

It was Friday, 11 August 2017. The school was celebrating the Mother's Day. All mothers of the students come to school. Mother's Day here is celebrated together with Queen's birthday. The event consisted of some activities. At the beginning, it was opened by a ceremony and pray to respect the Queen. Then, some students performed some arts like singing and dancing. That was so cute! After the celebration, the students drew and wrote in a picture, and it gave to their mothers. That was so sad for seeing them hugged and kissed their Moms. The celebration took some hours from 8.30 AM until 11.30 AM. After the show ended, the students went home with their parents so there were no classes after the lunch break. I and my three friends were also taking some pictures with the teachers there because that was the last day for us in that school. It felt so difficult to leave all kind people there, I love them so much. They were very nice to us although they had difficulties to communicate with us using English. We left the school at about 3 PM with the coordinator of LPRU. We also said thanks for everyone there. My tear cannot stop falling when they said goodbye to us. 

Now, I realized that everybody comes to my life due to many reasons. They can be my 'savior' when I was in an unsafe situation. They can be the lesson why we had to be a good manner person wherever we are. 

And the last but not least, thank you for everyone in Ngao. The teachers, vice director, director, the shop owner around there, I will never forget you all, and if I had a chance to go back, maybe I would go back there for meeting you all.

Mrs. Chum Phu, one of the teachers in Annuban Ngao.

Max, the foreign teacher from Russia.

Lampang, 13 August 2017.

Fitri Achriyanti.