Some of my favorite / silliest Thailand experiences
1. Going on an exploration of the islands around Phuket. I saw James Bond Island, Ko Phi Phi, and jumped off of the second story of a boat into the beautiful ocean. I also went snorkeling off of Koh Phi Phi and swam with what I can only describe as "Rainbow Fish". They were even swimming with plain fish, just like in the book. Also kayaking through amazing limestone caves and through to hidden clearings where cliffs were 100 feet above and you were in a small "lake" looking up at a beautiful sky :)
2. Having students named Poo, Porn, King, Ice, etc. It is very difficult to maintain a straight face when my student Pee is acting up and I have to tell him that his behavior is unacceptable.
3. Getting massages on the beach of a beautiful island. By a woman who informed me that she had 10 lovers, and asks them to leave so she can go to sleep. I think she was joking. Here was my view during this massage!
4. Getting my work permit and visa extension 2 days before it would have expired and I would have been forced to go to another country and re-enter Thailand in order to be there legally. When I expressed my concern, I was told that I should just relax, all would be well :).
Posted By Joshua Keating
5. Sleeping four to a bed in a Bangkok "hotel" that was described as a beautiful oasis...but was neither beautiful, nor an oasis.
6. Seeing elephants being walked around by their owners while at dinner.
7. Having the most delicious dinners with many many dishes, all costing under $3.
8. Walking to the bus, I was accosted by one of the men who work at the bus station. He had learned enough English to ask me "What is your name?" I responded with " Annie, and what is your name?" He informed me that his name was CHICKEN!!!! and proceeded to backgaw loudly. I looked around startled, but all the Thai people passing seemed to think that this was a very normal activity, so I told Chicken to have a nice day and strolled on.
9. Having the most adorable students. I had them make cards for Thai Mother's Day, and got the sweetest cards turned in to me. Here is an example
10. Finding the Blarney Stone in Thailand!!!!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Here are some pictures from my last weekend away
Our wonderful elephant carrying Jess and I across the River Kwai. He was so great! When Jess's soap fell out of her bag on our journey the elephant stopped and picked up both the soap and the case with his trunk! Our guide , "John" was great also! He made us both of the sweet hats that you can see us modeling on our ride. They were made from leaves, sticks, and flowers that he and our elephant procured along our ride.
The River Kwai.
Awesome cave at a waterfall we were visiting. The waterfall was not very full, so we got to climb around in it and see this cave!
Hellfire pass. POWs carved this pass by hand.
A beautiful memorial and view of the whole valley.
The Bridge over the River Kwai
Other than that, I have just been busy doing a ton of grading and making midterms. I am going on a mini vacation to Phuket next week as we have Thursday and Friday off. I am so so excited and can't wait to relax on the beach for a while!!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Kanchanaburi
Happy belated Fourth of July! We had a very fun celebration here. We took over a Thai friend's restaurant, and made hamburgers (porkburgers), puppy chow and potato salad! It was so fun to share American traditions with Thai people, and of course
to celebrate the Fourth of July!
Last weekend, I visited Kanchanaburi. It is only about 90 km away from Suphanburi, but takes about 2.5 hours to reach. There are no speedy minivans that make the trek, so to get to Kanchanaburi you have to take a dreaded bus. These busses have no ac and possibly the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat on. However, they are exceptionally cheap, and the ride was absolutely gorgeous.
We arrived Saturday night,and checked into a little guesthouse. There were huge plumeria trees, and the whole place was very peaceful.
We then went to get some delicious pizza. I have begun missing cheese and bread an insane ammount, but Kanchanaburi is enough of a tourist destination to have semi delicious pizza, so I capitalized on this. After, we explored some different bars on the backpacker's street. In the morning, I woke up early and we got on another bus to the Erawan waterfalls. I have decided that these waterfalls are where I want to live. They were so, so beautiful. The falls are 7 levels, and you hike to each level. You can swim and take breaks on the way. Each fall was a little different, and gorgeous in its own way. We encountered a lot of wildlife, from a monkey troupe to sucky fish (fish that suck on your toes; Thai people sometimes pay to put their feet in a tub of these, apparently it is similar to a pedicure?). The monkeys were adorable, they were swinging from tree to tree and playing. Sometimes they would get a little too rambunctions and fall into the water! After the hike we made our way down the mountain for delicious fruit shakes and meat on a stick before heading home. Sadly, when we got to the bus station we realized that we had missed the last bus by about 10 minutes. However, Thai friends proved once again how incredibly generous and helpful they were by finding us a taxi to return home in. So we rode home in style after a wonderful hike!
Teaching has been going well. I still struggle with understanding the Thai education system, which freely condones all types of copying and cheating, but am trying to just focus on giving the kids fun and interesting lessons. I try to reward those who are trying and giving unique and different answers. Some of these answers are very funny. I have also discovered that ALL Thai children seem to be amazing artists, and have been incorporating more drawing into my lessons. The kids continue to amaze me with how sweet and funny they are. One of the boys in my M-6 class (12th grade) has many "designer" bags that he likes to bring to school. One is the same as my blue longchamp purse. I showed him this similarity, and all the kids in the class began shouting "TEACHAAAA COPY COPYYYY" to let me know that his was not in fact real. This has become a class joke, and each time he brings a new item, the class makes sure to show me, and let me know that it is a "COPYYYYYY".
Last week, the school had a scholarship ceremony in which the former Prime Minister's daughter came to distribute scholarships to 20 students. As a part of the ceremony, the school wanted a welcoming speech in Thai, Chinese, and English. I helped to write the English speech and worked with the girl speaking! Here she is practicing with her "microphone". It was a lot of fun and so great to hear her speaking in front of the whole school!
Other than that, I have just been experiencing so much delicious Thai food, some wonderful Thai massage (for between $4 and $10 depending on how luxurious I feel haha) and having so much fun!! This is me and my new friend, Passion! She is the dog at the coffee place and is SO sweet!!
Elephant on a walk!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Teaching Beach Etc!!
Hi Everyone!!
So last weekend I went to Ayutthya. Ayutthya is the former capital of Thailand, and there are some amazing ruins of former palaces and temples there. I got on a bus (it is only about a one hour ride from my town) to meet Jess there. After a bit of a rocky start (we got dropped off in different places and had to navigate the town to find each other) we went exploring. We first went to get lunch and see some elephants, then found a tuk tuk driver to show us the ruins. He was very funny and took us to all of the free ones. He waited while we explored. The ruins were so beautiful, it was crazy thinking how they must have been in their prime. Here are some pictures!
These last few weeks I have been settling into teaching. I have about 400 kids, and soooo much grading. The kids are at a variety of levels, some do not know yes and no, and some can speak (fairly) good English. I am trying to do activities where the more advanced kids can go further and the less advanced kids can keep up but it is so hard! The kids are very funny. Many of the boys have informed me that they like Titanic…one even tried to sing me the theme song so I would understand how much he loved the movie. The kids also like to greet me every time they see me walking around campus. They all shout “GOOSE MORNING TEACHAAAAAA”. They also don’t really understand the concept of “sir” so sometimes they call me sir haha. They are all so sweet though, one girl made me an origami heart saying “I love you Teacha” Every day in the classroom can be difficult, but the students make me laugh so much that it is definitely worth it.
This past weekend I went to the beach. We went south of Bangkok to a beach called Hua Hin. It was so gorgeous, I never wanted to leave. The town was a bit touristy also, so we were able to find not only American breakfast, but also Mexican food!! Such an amazing weekend! Our hostel was about a block away from the beach and we had the top “penthouse” room with an amazing outdoor shower and rooftop terrace! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.
When I got to school today, I was privy to reason 34356 that I am in a foreign country that I do not understand yet. A new teacher had arrived, and she was wearing pants. When I asked why this was (as females are not allowed to wear pants and I have been wearing a skirt for the last month) I was told that she was actually a man. Yes, that’s right. Apparently it is A-OK to be a blatant cross dresser here, but as this woman was born a man, she / he retains the right to wear pants (and very high heels).
That’s all for now!! Miss you all so so much!!!
These last few weeks I have been settling into teaching. I have about 400 kids, and soooo much grading. The kids are at a variety of levels, some do not know yes and no, and some can speak (fairly) good English. I am trying to do activities where the more advanced kids can go further and the less advanced kids can keep up but it is so hard! The kids are very funny. Many of the boys have informed me that they like Titanic…one even tried to sing me the theme song so I would understand how much he loved the movie. The kids also like to greet me every time they see me walking around campus. They all shout “GOOSE MORNING TEACHAAAAAA”. They also don’t really understand the concept of “sir” so sometimes they call me sir haha. They are all so sweet though, one girl made me an origami heart saying “I love you Teacha” Every day in the classroom can be difficult, but the students make me laugh so much that it is definitely worth it.
This past weekend I went to the beach. We went south of Bangkok to a beach called Hua Hin. It was so gorgeous, I never wanted to leave. The town was a bit touristy also, so we were able to find not only American breakfast, but also Mexican food!! Such an amazing weekend! Our hostel was about a block away from the beach and we had the top “penthouse” room with an amazing outdoor shower and rooftop terrace! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.
When I got to school today, I was privy to reason 34356 that I am in a foreign country that I do not understand yet. A new teacher had arrived, and she was wearing pants. When I asked why this was (as females are not allowed to wear pants and I have been wearing a skirt for the last month) I was told that she was actually a man. Yes, that’s right. Apparently it is A-OK to be a blatant cross dresser here, but as this woman was born a man, she / he retains the right to wear pants (and very high heels).
That’s all for now!! Miss you all so so much!!!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Hi Everyone!!
I am settled into my new apartment now... it is so so wonderful. There are a bunch of other American teachers living here, including a girl who also went to Clark! Here is my new beautiful room
I have been settling into teaching this last week. I have so many students! I teach 9th (M3) and 12th (M6) grade. I have 16 different classes of 30-40 kids each. I am there mainly to teach pronunciation and conversation skills, so my classes focus as much as possible on getting the kids to talk. So far, we've simulated phone conversations, talked about Katy Perry (she is very famous here), played Simon Says and so much more. My kids are so so sweet!
On Thursday the school had Wai Kru day. Wai means respect and Kru means Teacher, so it was essentially a teacher appreciation day. The day before the kids had spent the afternoon making beautiful flower arrangements, and on Wai Kru day they were all displayed. The morning consisted of a long ceremony (in Thai) which was honoring all of the teachers. It was very beautiful, there was singing and a woman came and danced! After, all of the teachers took turns pouring hot wax into a mold to make a candle that will burn for the rest of the year. I was so happy to experience this ceremony!
Other than getting used to school, I have been doing a lot of eating (surprise surprise). Every day, the Thai teachers bring delicious home cooked food and a ton of amazing fruit for a potluck lunch. They are very insistant that I try everything, so it is a wonderful break in the middle of my work day. Today I explored the town a bit, and found my new coffee place. They make delicious coffee and tea, it is air conditioned, and the owner brings her two adorable Pomeranians in every day!
It's so nice to be able to settle in and meet people here. I am having the best time, and plan to begin exploring the country soon! Tomorrow I'm going to go explore Ayutthaya, the former capital, with my orientation roomie!! They have a ton of ruins and a floating market.
I have been settling into teaching this last week. I have so many students! I teach 9th (M3) and 12th (M6) grade. I have 16 different classes of 30-40 kids each. I am there mainly to teach pronunciation and conversation skills, so my classes focus as much as possible on getting the kids to talk. So far, we've simulated phone conversations, talked about Katy Perry (she is very famous here), played Simon Says and so much more. My kids are so so sweet!
On Thursday the school had Wai Kru day. Wai means respect and Kru means Teacher, so it was essentially a teacher appreciation day. The day before the kids had spent the afternoon making beautiful flower arrangements, and on Wai Kru day they were all displayed. The morning consisted of a long ceremony (in Thai) which was honoring all of the teachers. It was very beautiful, there was singing and a woman came and danced! After, all of the teachers took turns pouring hot wax into a mold to make a candle that will burn for the rest of the year. I was so happy to experience this ceremony!
Other than getting used to school, I have been doing a lot of eating (surprise surprise). Every day, the Thai teachers bring delicious home cooked food and a ton of amazing fruit for a potluck lunch. They are very insistant that I try everything, so it is a wonderful break in the middle of my work day. Today I explored the town a bit, and found my new coffee place. They make delicious coffee and tea, it is air conditioned, and the owner brings her two adorable Pomeranians in every day!
It's so nice to be able to settle in and meet people here. I am having the best time, and plan to begin exploring the country soon! Tomorrow I'm going to go explore Ayutthaya, the former capital, with my orientation roomie!! They have a ton of ruins and a floating market.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Moving to my school.....
Blog Entry 2
On Thursday, I was picked up by my coordinator, Pinwadee. She was super sweet, and we drove the two hours back to my town, Bangplama. When we got there, we quickly dropped my things off and went out for dinner with two other foreign teachers who live at the school. We had pizza for dinner (in Thailand, they think that pizza is something to put massive amounts of ketchup onto). After, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some prelimnary supplies. I got some toilet paper (a rarity here), as well as some snacks and coffee of course!
When I got back to my apartment, true panic began to set in. There was a toilet, but no holding tank, so I had to pour water down it to make it flush. There was no shower; I was expected to pour water over myself from a tank using a bucket. There was also no air conditioning, and at a low of 80, I felt this rapidly becoming a problem. I settled into bed, but was immeditly swarmed by bugs that appeared to be living there. At this point I couldn’t stop crying and went to take refuge in the apartment of one of the other foreign teachers. She very sweetly let me stay the night with her.
The next day, I told my coordinator about my problems. She was very helpful, and sent some students to clean the apartment and put down new floor coverings. The students were so, so helpful, and worked amazingly hard to help me. I tried to unpack after, but was so hot that I put that activity on hold. That night, I went out to dinner with the other foreign teachers and to a night market. The shopping is amazing here!!!
On Saturday, I discovered that a group of American teachers is living in the town about 5 miles away. I also discovered that one of them had gone to Clark, and we made plans to go to Bangkok the next day. It was such a fun day! We went to a famous weekend market, had the most delicious food, and got lost in a massive pet market. They were selling squirrels (all sizes) and porcupines to name a few of the items I could have selected. We also got massages. While we were there, Christine (my new Clark friend) informed me that there may be space in the apartment where she was living. As there are only about 3 people living at the school, I had gotten pretty lonely by this point and was excited at the prospect of not only sanitary living conditions, but living with other Americans!
The next day, I went to visit the apartment with another teacher from my school, Marci. She lives with a Thai family because she also had problems with the accomadations that the school had provided. She let me sleep over in her lovely air conditioned room! I talked with the building manager, and am all set to move in on Thursday to my new apartment! I am so so excited.
Teaching has been wonderful. As horrible and scary as the rest of it has been, teaching really has made being here worth it. I teach M3 (9th grade) and M6(12th grade). All of my students are very silly and I love teaching so far!!
Well that’s it for now! I will keep you all updated! I miss everyone so so much!!!!!
Hi Everyone!
I have started a blog to chronicle my time in Thailand, and to let everyone back home know what is happening. I don’t even know where to begin. I left LAX on June 1st. I flew on China Eastern Airlines to Shanghai, followed by a 4 hour layover, then to Bangkok. The flights were great, very smooth and they fed us a ton! When I landed in Shanghai, I met another girl on my program. We flew to Bangkok together, then after navigating customs found a cab and headed to the hotel. Our cab driver was very nice, and very enthusiastic about the fact that I was from California, or as he put it “HOLLYWOOD!!!”. He played some Justin Bieber in the car for us, and soon we arrived at our hotel. We stayed at the Bangkok Venice, so named because it is on a canal. By this point it was about 2:30 am, so we were very happy to have reached the hotel and went to bed. The hotel was very nice, air conditioned with soft beds and even a rainforest shower!
I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly good, and went down to the hotel breakfast. There were three options: The American Breakfast, or one egg, a hot dog (or sausage, as they call them here), and a piece of ham, a Continental breakfast, which consisted of a salad and toast, and the Asian breakfast, which was soup and rice. I chose the American breakfast, which I supplemented with extra toast, and the Starbucks Via I had brought (Good call Jess). After breakfast, we met a few more participants and all went to the famous weekend market in Bangkok. Shopping in Thailand is insane. Everything is sooo cheap, and many stalls and stores bear a resemblance to the TV show Hoarders. There is just stuff piled everywhere. In our travels we stopped to buy coconuts off the street and had coconut water, and my first try of street food: pad Thai After the market, we headed back to the hotel for a bit to rest. By this point, the rest of the participants had arrived, so in the afternoon we went exploring with them. We went to a mall, then a couple girls and I decided we wanted to try Thai massage, so we went in search of one. We found one for $9 and decided to try it. It was a bit different from what we were expecting: they give you a pair of pajamas to wear, then your massage is a combination of stretching and massage, but it felt sooooooo good.
The next day, we had our first orientation activity. We went to visit the Grand Palace. It was very beautiful. We went on a Buddhist holiday (the anniversary of when the Buddha gave his first lecture) so a large celebration was in progress, and the Palace was actually closing early to the public as the King was coming in the afternoon.
The rest of orientation was a blur of (trying to) learn the language, taking some abbreviated TEFL classes, and exploring Bangkok. On Thursday, we headed out to our placements!!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Lululemon Monitoring
Social Media Monitoring : Lululemon
I have been monitoring the company Lululemon for my social
media monitoring project. Lululemon has done an excellent job of using social media in it's marketing strategy. The brand employs many of the strategies that Li and Bernoff speak about in their book: Groundswell.
Firstly, they understand the groundswell. Li and Bernoff state that "The groundswell has changed the balance of power". This is true, and lululemon has done an excellent job of recognizing and using this to their advantage. For example, they respond to tweets about their clothing, both good and bad, almost instantaneously. In the past, companies did not have to be as responsive to customer complaints or their bad experiences, both because there was no forum for them and because it was very difficult to follow up. Now, individuals have the power to share their experiences, good and bad in a very public way, leading to a far greater incentive for the company to keep their standards high.
Lululemon also engages in both listening to and talking to the groundswell. Their various social media sites are full of responses to comments and tweets made by the customers. This leads to the consumers feeling valued by the company, as well as becoming engaged in what the company stands for and is doing. As an international company trying to build a local presence, lululemon has done an excellent job. Each store has its own unique facebook page, and these pages let community members know about events happening in and around their community.
There are tons of classes held in all of the stores. These classes are all free and taught by both community yoga ambassadors as well as store employees with an interest in yoga.In this way, lululemon is able to engage with the groundswell in their own communities, and also to have the benefits of being a large multinational corporation.
The company keeps standards high and customers happy by efficiently responding to tweets. The following are some examples that I feel demonstrate lululemon's excellent strategy in terms of twitter.
This one encourages a dialogue about a costumer's experience of buying a new shirt and it's effects on her athletic endeavors. There are countless tweets and responses similar to this one on the twitter. I believe that they are essential to lululemon's marketing because they are far more than a clothing company. Their marketing strategy presents their clothes as a gateway to an active and fit lifestyle, and following up with how their clothing made this possible for individuals is an excellent way of mobilizing the groundswell, as well as finding new ideas for future marketing.
The company keeps standards high and customers happy by efficiently responding to tweets. The following are some examples that I feel demonstrate lululemon's excellent strategy in terms of twitter.
This tweet and it's response show lululemon's commitment to all customers, even temporarily dis-satisfied ones. It is important for a company to respond to all sorts of feedback, and their response shows this writer that her troubles are faced by many more out there, but that there is a way to get the new colors. This doubly benefits lululemon marketing, because not only is the customer a bit more satisfied and feels heard, they will now be on the website even more, increasing the probability of future sales. Additionally, if this individual feels so motivated by the product that they have tweeted the absence of a product, they will likely tweet when the product becomes available, leading to even more sales.
The brand also engages the groundswell, in their local advocate campaigns. By engaging local athletes to become advocates and advertisers, they create a mutually beneficial message. The athletes get publicity in the form of the posters displayed around lululemon, as well as discounted clothing. The brand gains publicity through the athlete's endorsement of them to local communities. This is how I heard of lululemon myself. It is very engaging for communities to see their own members featured in stores, and provides a greater incentive to shop there. In this way, lululemon has very effectively engaged the groundswell to become a part of their brand.
As previously mentioned, lululemon tends to have a fairly high rating on social mention.com. Here are some screen shots of lululemon on social mention. The first is
from March 14, the second from March 20, and the third from March 27.
The
strength is a little low, but seems to fluctuate a bit. I would recommend that
lululemon increase their customer base to aid this problem. The sentiment
remains consistently high, with few bad things being said about lululemon
overall. Passion is fairly high, indicating that individuals who purchase
lululemon clothing and are involved in the community tend to be very involved.
Additionally, as this graph by google of interest in lululemon as measured by searches on the web, they have a fairly steady web presence.
Twitalyzer graph:
Lululemon's web presence is very solid, but I do have a few recommendations. They have tapped very well into the athlete community, but could benefit from tapping into other communities that would enjoy their clothing, but are not necessarily pursuing athletics at this moment. The in store classes are wonderful, but may be intimidating for those who are not practicing yoga or Pilates at the moment.
I would advise a few things in terms of their Facebook pages. Their Facebook presence seems to be much lower compared to their Twitter presence. Although they seem to be doing a fair amount of posting on each page, these posts are viewed relativly infrequently. I would advise locating Twitter followers on Facebook to gain a larger following.
Additionally, as I have stated above, lululemon is far less known among non athletes than athletes, but additionally is not very well known among college athletes. Colleges and Universities, as well as high schools have to outfit their athletes with warm ups. Lululemon could expand to this market and create an enormous amount of new business for themselves.
In short, I think lululemon is doing an excellent job of marketing themselves. They combine local business mentality of engaging the groundswell by community with their power as a large company to provide an excellent product to many people.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Kony??
I just watched the viral video
about Joseph Kony. In addition to being emotionally moved by the images in this film, I was reminded of this class. The film documents the beginning and
evolution of the Invisible Children movement. Invisible Children is a group
formed to bring a voice to children in Central Africa who are affected by the
violence of a group called the Lord's Resistance Army.
The video informs us that this group is led by a man named Joseph Kony.
Kony has committed a huge number of heinous crimes, including abduction, rape,
and sexual slavery. He is the number 1 person on the International Criminal
Court’s list.
The video
was made in order to spread awareness about the events happening in Africa.
Invisible children has led a largely social media based campaign to raise
awareness and to gather enough support to create enough of a presence for the
government to act. The US government deployed troops to aid the Ugandan troops
in finding Kony. This video acts as a way to ignite enough interest in the
campaign to continue the support of US troops, and most importantly, US
technology in Uganda. The video has a great man images that show just how the
groundswell is a part of changing the decision of the largest institution
around: government’s mind about funding. The video also employs an image of a
triangle turned upside down to show how the groundswell has shifted the balance
of power.
The morning
after watching this viral video, I found a great deal more about the subject on
Facebook. It seems that the world had indeed taken notice of the attention the video
had garnered, and a great deal of this was negative attention. Many who had been active in all along in this cause were very irritated that a viral video was spreading what many deemed faulty, baised information.
Posted By Joshua Keating 
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 5:18 PM 
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This counter post appeared here.
There was backlash at Invisible Children, for spending a great deal of their funding on video production when there are far greater uses for this capital. There were amusing backlashes, as well as harsh ones. Willy Wonka had a great deal to say on the subject.
Among the criticisms of the video were the fact that Kony is not, and has not been in Uganda for many years, and the video led people to believe false information, the fact that the individuals in the video being activists were mostly white, leading to a belief that Africa cannot solve its own problems without the charity of the Western world, or "White Savior" and so many others. The viral video has sparked its own trail of comments and response videos, as well as accusations that there are many other warlords and international criminals receiving little to no attention. This article chronicles the social media backlash and offers solutions for the future. The Los Angeles Times also has published an article on the subject and its ramifications for activists.
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