Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thailand Placement: Mai Pen Rai

Well, it's getting close. One week from tomorrow, I leave for Thailand. And I am getting excited--with a twinge of nervousness thrown in just to keep me on my toes.

My teaching assignment is in a school in Trang, where I will be stationed. The name of the school is Baan Kok Yang (300 students and 17 teachers.) The age group I'll be working with is 12-14 years old or grades 7-9. (Not sure if Thai grades are the same as our grades.) I'll be assisting two teachers--but I'm told that I should be prepared with my own lesson plans and anything involving games, songs and flash cards, books or other materials of the like that I might want to bring with me.

Where I would pack such things is a mystery.

Especially since I also learned that the weight limit for my flight from Bangkok to Trang on Nok Air Airlines is 15 Kilos (or about 33 pounds) for checked baggage and 7 Kilos (or about 15 pounds) for hand carried. So far, I am 25 pounds overweight for that flight. (Give or take a kilo or two!)

This should be interesting.

The penalty for being overweight is something like 50 baht per kilo. I haven't figured this out yet in dollars but...Mai pen rai.

This is the first Thai expression I have learned. It means "no worries" or "no problem." It is my one-size-fits-all response to everything. Smile and say "Mai pen rai" and all should be well.

Or so say the guidebooks. Sounds like good advice to me. Not just in Thailand but anywhere.

Bags overweight? Mai pen rai!

No room to pack books, flash cards and teaching materials? Mai pen rai!

Getting a little nervous and wondering what I've gotten myself into?

MAI PEN RAI!

Wow! I'm not even there yet and I love this phrase already!

6 comments:

  1. HI pam, SO EXCITED ABOUT YOUR TRIP. I'LL BE WATCHING YOUR SITE FOR UPDATES. BARB, JAN AND I ARE PLANNING ON COMING BACK TO MAUI NEXT YEAR(NOT SURE WHEN) WE WILL HAVE TO ALL GO TO MAMA'S AND TALK ABOUT YOUR TRIP. HAVE A SAFE, FUN AND ADVENTUROUS TRIP. JUDY MORGAN

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  2. Well, I thought I had solved your problem with the overweight bags. Just think brown, right? So I checked out the UPS website, and they do indeed have locations all over Thailand. So I quickly entered in a few numbers to get a quote for a small box of teaching supplies from Maui to Trang. The quote came back as $658 USD. Forget about using UPS! I think you have the right attitude -- just tell them Mai pen rai!
    Sara Sue

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  3. Point your toes in the right direction!

    -kiki

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  4. maybe you could make those flash cards IN Thailand???
    ~erin

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  5. Mai pen rai! Have fun! Patty : )

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  6. Your stories and photos are just fascinating! i can imagine myself there with you and am living your experiences vicariously. We've had a lovely Christmas celebration in Toledo and are now relaxing in its aftermath. Thanks for the effort to keep us posted in words and pics. It's much appreciated! More later.
    Love, Kay

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